A Game with Three Players and One Prize
by happyendings55
Summary: The fight for her attention is on, and who will win? The Boy-Who-Lived, the Slytherin Prince, or the Slytherin in the background? If a game between the three of them weren't enough, someone from her past will intervene.
1. Let the Game Begin

**Chapter One: Let the Game Begin**

"Olivia, I'm sorry." Harry Potter said so mechanically and unemotionally that she actually hauled off and slapped him square in the left side of his face. Olivia Cadence LaMette had grown up with Slytherin parents that had taught her to hate the existence of Harry Potter, and up until this very moment she never had.

"I guess I deserved that." He said as he walked to the door of her office. He never looked back as he exited quietly. She knew for the last eleventh months that he would never stay with her. He was destined to marry Ginny Weasley since he was eleven years old. She had even shared her body with him in hopes that he would love her instead. No such luck. Their awkward encounters in bed probably helped further Harry's knowledge of forever loving Ginny even more. Olivia had just been the proof that there was no one else out there for him.

"Egotistical wanker he is." She mumbled to herself in the office. If you could call it an office, it was more a potions lab. She had spent the last six years of her life working in the Ministry's Potions Department, and that is how she came to meet Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Weasley beyond the minor occurrences of seeing them in the corridors of Hogwarts. She was four years the trio's junior, so up until eleven months ago, she had never crossed a single one of their minds.

She crossed to her desk and opened a drawer to pull out a bottle of Firewhiskey. It was the first time she had ever dove into the bottle, but as tears started to flow down her cheeks at the easy dismissal Harry had given her, she knew it wouldn't be her last.

* * *

"Pansy, I really don't want to talk about it." Olivia shrugged off her flat-mate. The last thing she needed right now was to chat about Harry bloody Potter and his ice cold break-up with her.

"Well I do. You've been depressed for a month now. You really need to get over Boy Wonder and move on with your life."

"My life is fine. I go to work, I come home, I eat, I sleep…I do everything a normal person does everyday. I'm not depressed."

"If you weren't depressed, then you wouldn't spend the better part of your nights keeping yourself awake crying."

So Pansy had a point, but Olivia did not care for it at the moment. So what if she had been crying over Harry Potter for a month. She deserved her time to get over her loss, and she'd be damned if Pansy Parkinson was going to take that right from her.

"Well at any moment Blaise and Draco will be here; are you absolutely certain you don't want to come with us?"

"I'm sure Pansy. Have a good time." Olivia answered. Like hell she would go out with that group, the only thing less appealing was a night out with the Golden Trio.

"Okay, well don't cry too long tonight." Pansy said as she heard a knock at the flat door. It was surely the aforementioned men. Olivia watched as Pansy opened the door and two polar opposite men stood on the other side of it. Blaise with his dark skin, dark hair, and dark eyes, and then Draco with his extremely fair features, and gray eyes, they were a sight, and at one time in her second year, Olivia had been stupid enough to have a crush on both of them.

* * *

Draco had seen the depression in the young Slytherin's eyes when Pansy had opened the door and she was sitting on the sofa looking at them from afar. Her green eyes had looked close to welling up with tears, and Draco was sure they had the moment Pansy had left her alone.

"What's the matter with Olivia?" He managed to ask, shocked at his own concern.

"St. Potter broke her heart." Pansy stated flatly.

"And we all thought Golden Boy could do no harm." Blaise joked as the three of them were among the crowd at a small wizarding club in the heart of magical London. Blaise's laughter caught in his throat when the object of their discussion entered the club holding the youngest Weasley like a prize and flanked by his faithful sidekicks. "Why is it he shows up when he's mentioned?" Blaise asked to no one in particular.

"Because he is the savior of us all, and it is his duty to be everywhere all the time." Pansy snorted as she took another drink of her Pixie Dust.

Draco owed Potter for testifying in favor of him after the war, but he couldn't help, but seethe at the sight of him. How could you break one witch's heart and within the month have another on your arm at an establishment where your picture would surely show up the next day in the Prophet? Draco didn't understand his anger, but he knew he felt it.

"Malfoy." Potter had greeted him when he made it to their table. "Zabini, Pansy." He said nodding to each respectively.

"Potter, what brings you out on the town tonight?" Blaise asked. The four men worked at the Ministry together, so it would be pointless to ignore him.

"Ginny and I are celebrating our engagement. Care to join us?" He asked surveying the faces of the three Slytherins. He would have guessed that there would be pure hatred on Pansy's, dismay on Zabini's, and blank emotion on Malfoy's.

"Draco, Blaise, you are more than welcome to, but I really would rather not. It was nice to see you," she said to Hermione and Ron not acknowledging Harry or Ginny before she turned to Draco and Blaise and finished, "and you boys make sure to come over on Saturday." She made a popping noise and was gone in the blink of an eye.

"I guess she's still mad at me."

"Do you blame her? You've broken her friend." Zabini answered.

"No I don't blame her, but I can't be sorry either. It was the right thing to do for both of us, and one day Olivia will see that." Harry explained as Ginny visibly tensed at the mention of the younger Slytherin's name. She really believed she had lost Harry to the girl. Draco noted the uneasiness in the air.

"Doesn't make it any easier for her, and if you don't mind Potter, Malfoy and I would prefer to not indulge in your party." Blaise said looking at Draco and gesturing that they should follow Pansy's lead and leave.

* * *

It was Saturday, Olivia's twenty-fourth birthday, and what would have been the one year anniversary of her and Harry's relationship. She refused to leave her bed today. It had been enough when she woke up yesterday morning to a giant waving picture of Harry and Ginny in a club celebrating their engagement.

"Olivia! Get out of that room this instant or I will send two extremely powerful wizards in to get you!" Pansy shouted through the magically locked door to her bedroom. Too bad Pansy wasn't in on her plans to not leave her bed.

"No!" Olivia yelled back.

"Olivia, you can't stay in there all day." Pansy tried to reason.

"Watch me."

That was when she heard the lock click open, and standing in her doorway was Draco Malfoy.

"I believe you said you were sending in two. I refuse to budge if you're not even going to put in the effort you threatened." Olivia stated to Pansy who was standing behind him.

"I will send in the second, if this one can't seem to move you. She's all yours Draco." Pansy said shutting the door behind him.

"If she wants me out of the room so badly, then why shut the door?" Olivia wondered aloud.

"She thinks you'll feel more threatened if you're alone in here with me."

"Why would I be?" Olivia asked very aware of Draco's presence. Pansy may not be dumb after all. She was beginning to feel underdressed just looking at him.

Draco could feel the electricity in the air as well. He noticed that she had herself wrapped in black silk sheets. For a brief moment, he wondered what she slept in underneath those sheets before shaking his head of the thought. She was Olivia. The baby Slytherin that Pansy had taken under her wing after her graduation because the LaMettes were put into Azkaban and the girl had no where else to go. Of course, being a pureblood, she had money, but money doesn't keep you company. Olivia had come to Pansy's door at the request of Pansy's roommate advertisement in the Daily Prophet, and together they had lived for the last six years.

"Draco? You're staring at me." She said and it stirred him from his thoughts and reminded him of the task at hand. He had to remove the birthday girl from her bed and from the looks of it, she wouldn't make it easy. He went over to her bed and sat on the silk sheets.

"Draco, it's pointless. I refuse to move from this bed. I turned twenty-four at promptly seven thirty-two this morning and in six hours I would have been celebrating my one year anniversary, but now I'm not. I don't want to get out of my bed."

Draco was taken aback by the new information. Potter had asked her out on her birthday, only to break up with her this close to it. The Boy-Who-Lived was also the biggest arse he'd ever met based on that information.

"Pansy will have me walloped if I don't get you out of this room."

"No, she'll just send in Blaise." As if on cue, the darker man appeared in the room. "Speaking of the devil."

"Now, now, I've come to make you an offer. I think Pansy will relent if I say I'm taking you out, but instead I bring you to my hotel and let you spend the day in your hermit-like state wallowing."

Draco frowned. Why hadn't he thought of something like that? And why did it bother him that he hadn't?

"That sounds perfect Blaise!" Olivia squealed as she threw off the covers and threw her arms around him. Both men stood stunned. When had she turned into a woman? She had always been the awkward teenager they had around. Now as they both gawked at her in a pale green night dress that left nothing to the imagination as it hugged her skin, she seemed very much a woman.

"If you gentlemen will excuse me, I have a day of wallowing to dress for." She chortled.

"My heroes!" Pansy met them at the door. "She hasn't been that cheerful since before the Harry fiasco.

When the door reopened, Olivia was dressed in a long black skirt, a green button-down blouse, and her dark red hair was swept up into a ponytail. Pansy watched as her two best friends ogled Olivia. She had wondered when they were going to realize she was a woman and not a little girl.

* * *

At his hotel, Blaise had prepared a day of being pampered while she continued to be depressed. She had been so happy about it, that she had hugged him once more before skipping off to the room where she would have her back massage.

Blaise went to his private office in the hotel, and looked at the invitation on the desk. It was the invitation to the annual ball held to commemorate another passing year without Voldemort. In other words, it was another ball that hailed to the great Harry Potter and his faithful cronies. Unfortunately, being an employee of the Ministry, meant Blaise had to go, as did Draco and Olivia. After seeing Olivia as a woman for the first time today, he figured maybe he could take a load off of her mind and invite her to be his escort for the evening. He would run it past her after she returned from the massage and was on her way to a facial.

Feeling rejuvenated from her massage, Olivia leisurely walked to the room that Blaise had pointed out as his office, and knocked on the door. He came to the door and was stunned to see her standing in the corridor in a white terry cloth hotel robe and big white slippers. Her hair was down and framing her small face.

"Feeling at least a little better?" Blaise had asked.

"Bunches actually, thank you so much Blaise, you really are the best for thinking of this!" She said once more.

"Well don't get too complimentary yet, I had something I wanted to ask you."

"Go ahead."

"You know the annual ball is approaching and I know you'll be forced to go just as I will, so I was hoping to spare you the pain, and ask you to be my escort for the affair."

"I really don't want to go, but I know I have to, so it would be wonderful to have you as a date." Olivia answered.

* * *

She hated her position at the Ministry as Pansy used magic in her hair for the mandatory ball. She was putting it up in curls and placing small blue flowers in them. Olivia's dress was a deep royal blue, strapless, and went down to her ankles with a slit to her thigh on the left side. She was sure that no matter what she looked like she would continue to be a kid to the rest of them. Being four years younger, she didn't expect anything else.

At exactly seven that evening, Blaise, Draco, and Theodore Nott knocked on the girls' door. Pansy opened it and took Theodore's hand as the other two boys entered the flat.

"No date Draco?" Pansy asked. She didn't know why it surprised her. Draco was notorious for going stag to events like this.

"Of course not, I like to keep my options open for the end of the evening." He said with a trademark smirk.

"You're always the heartbreaking Prince Slytherin." Olivia said as she made her entrance. All eyes were on her. Pansy held in her laugh as she watched the three of them look surprised. Theodore was the first to turn away and survey his own date. Pansy was stunning with her dark hair pulled back into a bun and a long simple black dress.

The quintet hurried to the fireplace and Flooed to the Ministry. The gala was being held in the lobby and it had been decorated accordingly. Small crystal lights were everywhere along with white flowers. They entered the room and found the table with their place cards. Theodore sat, and to his left were Pansy, then Blaise, then Olivia, and finally Draco, with five more place cards along the rest of the round table. Draco leaned forward curious as to who would be joining him and cursed softly at the name. The person sitting to his left would be Hermione Weasley, which only meant that Harry Potter was at their table. Sure enough after surveying the rest of the cards, Harry Potter, Ginny Weasley, Ron Weasley, and George Weasley would be at their table.

As if thinking their names made them appear, the other quintet for the table entered. Everyone stopped to cheer for St. Potter as he surveyed the room looking for his seat. Ginny had her arm linked with his in a red dress that left nothing to the imagination as it was short, tight, and cut low. On her left ring finger, a diamond that even the Malfoys would have been proud to give one of their brides.

Olivia had become very silent once Harry and his friends joined their table. She watched Hermione shift uncomfortably. She knew it was because Hermione was friends with both her and Ginny. However, Olivia was pretty sure the loyalty laid with Ginny, and rightly so.

Blaise and Draco could sense Olivia's uneasiness the moment it happened. Pansy stared daggers at Harry while he gazed lovingly at his wife-to-be. The table's awkward tension was unnerving to everyone except Harry. Ginny was fiddling with her napkin. George, Ron, and Hermione were talking about family to avoid meeting anyone else's eyes. Theodore tried distracting Pansy from her glares. Olivia sat perfectly still staring down at the white linen tablecloth. Draco took a drink from his glass. Blaise settled on trying to make Olivia feel better and set his hand on her leg. She looked up and smiled. Both Harry and Draco stiffened at the exchange.

"Witches and wizards, can I have your attention? Tonight marks the ten year anniversary of the defeat of Voldemort. This would not be possible if not for our own Auror, Harry Potter. As you all know he defeated him at the mere age of seventeen and thus has been one of the best Aurors the Ministry has." Percy Weasley announced, and the room shook with applause. "Enjoy your meal, and the orchestra will begin playing at eight thirty." He took his seat at the table in the front of the room. Harry would have been at that table too, if he hadn't always insisted on sitting at one of the regular tables.

The meal was no less tense, except for Harry and Draco's heightened awareness of where Blaise's hands were on Olivia. As their dinner disappeared, Blaise's arm draped lazily over Olivia's chair. She was smiling and chattering with him happily.

"Olivia, would you care to dance?" Blaise asked and was pleased when she nodded. She rose from her seat, and Harry almost jumped the table to punch Blaise. What the hell was he doing with her?

"Malfoy, can I talk to you?" Harry asked and Draco nodded.

"What the hell is she doing here with him? He has no right to be with her!" Harry demanded to know once they were out of earshot from the rest of the partygoers.

"Pretty high horse you are on Potter. You tossed her out. You don't get to call her shots!" Draco responded. He was just as mad as Harry, but had no idea why. Harry didn't want her, he just didn't want to see her with anyone else.

"Whatever, you're just some Slytherin."

"So is she, or did you forget that just like you forgot she had feelings?"

"I should hex you."

"Do it. I haven't bothered you or anyone else in ten years. I owe you for testifying in my favor, but I would love a reason to take you down a peg. How would everyone react to St. Potter starting a duel with someone for no reason?"

Harry visibly calmed as Draco's words set in. Once he realized there was nothing he could do, he stomped back to the table. Draco didn't follow. Instead, he went to where the couples were dancing, and gracefully cut into Blaise and Olivia's dance.

"What happened to keeping options open?"

"Oh, it's not the end of the night yet, and I wanted to know how you were doing."

"I'm fine. Blaise is being wonderful. I'm actually having fun, and except for the time at the table, I've completely forgot Harry." She told him and thought about his hand at her waist. Why think of Harry when his hand was touching her? She felt bad, Blaise was her date and Draco would be leaving with someone else anyway. The orchestra stopped and she looked at him.

"Draco, the song is over. You should go find someone to go home with, and I should return to my date." She said trying to be cold to block her sudden interest in him. Draco didn't know how to respond except to kiss her hand and nod. He was stunned at her smoothe and cool dismissal of him. She must really like Blaise.

Blaise returned to her side and noted that there was competition and male ego between Draco, Harry, and himself. He decided he would dazzle her, and there would be no contest. Olivia took his hand once again as he led her in another dance.

"You look absolutely beautiful tonight. I know I have been an overbearing older-brother-type, but I think I would like to be something different from that. How would you like to be my girlfriend?" He asked. She smiled, he didn't feel the same as Draco had, or even Harry, but that might mean he would work.

"I would like that." She answered, and he ended their second dance with a kiss.


	2. Choosing Teams

**Chapter Two: Choosing Teams**

She was just happy enough. Blaise had spent the last two weeks making her feel like she was wanted again. It was wonderful of him. Olivia sat back as the opera plot unfolded in front of her. She and Blaise were enjoying a night out in the wizarding section of London, and part of the evening included going to a new magic opera by Nessa Westley.

"Are you enjoying the evening?" Blaise asked her as the lights rose to signal intermission.

"Yes, it's been perfect." She said as they were walking to the lobby.

"Glad to hear you say it." Blaise smiled and squeezed her hand. He leaned in to give her a kiss. She closed her eyes and waited for the contact. It was a pleasant enough kiss, but didn't hold much thrill.

Draco had seen them from across the lobby, and he had been about to say hi. Instead, he stood where he was because Blaise went in for a kiss. Draco could tell by Olivia's body language that it wasn't incredible for her, but she would be nice about it anyways. He thought about their dance only two weeks ago. He was sure she had felt the same electricity between the two of them.

He waited until they were to the stairs to return to their box, and then headed toward his own.

She had felt his presence at one point. Olivia shook herself. She had to remember that she was dating Blaise and Draco was merely a friend. He would never want to be with her. He was a born bachelor. She leaned forward slightly to appear as if she were more interested in this scene of the opera, but instead saw Draco watching diligently from his own private box, alone.

"Blaise, Draco is here." She whispered to Blaise.

"Of course he is. One of his favorite past time's is the opera. That's his family's box."

"He's alone."

"He's always alone at the opera. Aunt Narcissa always told me that the day he brings a date to the opera is the day that he's fallen in love."

Olivia took in Blaise's words and then went back to watching the opera.

Blaise had known Draco would be there, and had seen him spot them. Hence, his slight kiss to Olivia. The thing that had worried him was her disguised search for him. He couldn't lose. Not when he realized just how much he wanted her. He would just have to up his game a notch.

* * *

Harry was seething. This was the third Monday in a row that Olivia had come to the Auror section of the Ministry to eat lunch with Blaise. Why was she with him? How could anyone go from dating him to dating Blaise Zabini?

"Harry? Are you even listening to me?" Ron asked as he watched Harry go from calm to visibly angry.

"Sorry. Go ahead." Harry responded, but looked back to where Olivia was laughing up at Zabini. His eyes narrowed, and Ron followed his glare.

"Harry! What is the matter with you? You've been obsessing over them for weeks now. You're engaged to my sister mate. Why do you care?"

"It's not that I want her Ron, because I don't. Ginny's perfect, but I just don't understand how she could think he's enough for her after dating me." He answered and Ron rolled his eyes and shook his head. Harry had let a lot get to his head in the last six years. Sometimes he was worse than Malfoy.

"Well it could be worse, she could be dating Malfoy." Ron said and Harry shot him a pointed look. As if Malfoy had been waiting for a cue, he walked into the Auror offices. He stopped, looked at the happy couple, and then headed toward his own desk. Ron almost laughed at the situation. Here were three grown men silently battling in one way or another for the same girl. And he was supposedly the dense one. He was the one with the girl of his dreams while these three did their dance around Olivia. He would have to tell Hermione the moment he could leave the offices. It wouldn't take long to wander to the Magical Creatures Defense section of the Ministry, and tell his wife.

After Ron had finally told Harry about the new Death Eater mission they were about to do, Ron had headed to Hermione's office.

"Ron!" Hermione squealed as she threw her arms around her husband and gave him a kiss on the cheek. He grinned. He would never get tired of that. "Why are you here?"

"I'm here because my best mate sat there for thirty minutes not listening to me. I was trying to give him the briefing on the next Death Eater case and he couldn't stop staring at Zabini and Olivia. It was weird, so I asked him what his problem was and he told me that he didn't think that Zabini was right for Olivia to date after dating him."

"Oh, the nerve! Sometimes I swear if he weren't my best friend I'd hex him. Here he is engaged to Ginny and in love with her no doubt, but too full of himself to let his ex-girlfriend, whose heart he crushed, date whoever she wants." Hermione fumed. She had gotten stuck between Ginny and Olivia in the Harry Potter dilemma and it was hard for her. She was friends with both girls and even though Ginny would always be one of her best friends, Olivia was a good person too.

"I know. That's what I said, and then to cheer him up a little, I said she could be dating Malfoy. The funny thing is after I said that, Malfoy came in, and he looked pissed at Zabini too. So my brilliant conclusion is that the three of them are in some sort of stand-off over her, and she's oblivious."

"You really are brilliant Ronald. I knew you weren't as dense as you acted. Well at least not most of the time." She giggled before kissing him and seeing him back out of her office. "I'll see you at home."

Hermione sat for a few minutes after Ron had left. She decided that she would let Olivia know what was going on around her so that she didn't get hurt by all the male egos.

* * *

"Hermione, you don't have to pretend to be my friend. I know that Ginny has been one of your dearest friends since school, and I'm merely an acquaintance from work. I'm not asking you to betray that." Olivia said to Hermione while they were enjoying a male-free lunch at a small deli within the Ministry.

"I am your friend too. Ginny will have to deal with that. As for taking you to lunch, I did that to warn you. Right now, three male egos are revolving around you. The first one is Harry's and he's just upset you would date Blaise after him. It's quite childish if you ask me. Then there's Blaise, which I'm glad to see you cheery again. Finally, there is Draco's."

"Draco?" Olivia asked. She couldn't believe it. "Draco barely knows I'm alive, and that's only because my flat-mate and boyfriend are his best friends."

"No, he knows you're there. I don't know what his deal is, but pay attention and be careful." Hermione warned.

"Okay Hermione. Thanks for the warning, and staying my friend." Olivia responded. Hermione nodded and smiled. They finished their lunch and headed back to their respective offices.

Olivia was working on breaking down a potion, when Percy Weasley knocked on her door. She jumped, but smiled as she recognized him.

"Hello Minister Weasley." She said to him.

"Hello Olivia. How's the Wolfsbane project?"

"It's coming along. I'm spending twice the amount of time on it. I know how important this project is to Hermione's next cause."

"Well don't work too hard. My sister-in-law can convince most anyone of anything and she doesn't necessarily need that right away. I have two new projects that I'm giving to you personally. They are related to Death Eater activity so I'm giving you the chance to say no now."

"Can I know more than that to make an informed decision?"

"The main gist is we want a potion that will bring the Dark Mark to the surface of the arm. This way we can finish the last of the searches. The second potion is to remove the Dark Mark permanently from people like Draco Malfoy. This second potion was specifically commissioned by him because he didn't ask for his."

Olivia blinked. Draco wanted this potion. She had to take the project, no one else in her department would. They all still think Draco was a trader waiting to happen. It was the reason Percy had come to her first. It was her or project didn't happen.

"I'll do it." Olivia answered quickly after thinking it through.

"You're sure? You don't have to take it."

"Percy, you know it's me or no project and Draco Malfoy is my friend." Olivia explained. She knew Percy was worried about her emotional attachment to this. Her parents and two older brothers were Death Eaters, and though her parents had been captured, her brothers were still out there. The first potion might help catch them. It was a demon she'd have to face.

Percy watched her face as she was thinking when his predecessor had hired her six years ago it was because Schacklebolt had it on good authority from Minerva McGonagall that she was a newer breed of Slytherin. Percy Weasley knew why she was too. He had known Olivia's older brothers when they went to Hogwarts. They talked about the baby sister that was born with the wrong attitude. She was only three at the time, but her parents knew she would not be like them.

"Are you sure? I can only imagine what this could mean for you."

"Positive. I'll deal with Armand and Marcellus, if I have to, but I'm sure I can do this."

"Okay. Well I'll leave you with the file. You have whatever amount of time you want. Malfoy has planned to keep it funded until there's been success. He's left contact information in there, but I'm sure you may already have it." He explained before leaving her to work.

She opened the file once he had left. Inside, the background of the project, the budget of the project, and a detailed contact portfolio for Draco were there. After she had perused the file for an hour, her desk clock chimed the end of the day.

Olivia set the file in her bag, pulled on her cloak, and headed to Blaises's office. She stood in the doorway and watched the four men of the Advanced Auror office do the last tasks of the day.

"Ready to go?" She asked Blaise, but made sure to gauge Harry and Draco's response. She saw both men tense and glare, but it was different for each of them. Harry's glare had arrogance, and Draco's was pained. So Hermione was right. Olivia wasn't sure what that meant.

* * *

"I'm pretty popular these days. You're the third person I've had lunch with this week." Olivia chirped.

"Well you're the person working on my potions. I want to talk about it because you'll be reporting to me the progress you make." Draco explained formally. He didn't mean to be cold with her, but it was the best way to not keep falling for her.

Olivia almost felt a chill from his impersonal demeanor.

"Minister Weasley told me it is to retain my full attention because of how much money you will be pouring into it. He's removed me from another project to do so." Olivia answered, a little disheartened to be removed from a project before she completed it.

"I'm sorry you're not going to be able to do the one you've invested yourself in this long," he started to say like the friend he was instead of a businessman, "But I really need these. The first one is to help prove I'm a good man these days, and the second is to remove the proof of a misspent youth." He looked at her again. She smiled at him and his pulse kicked up.

"I've already said I'd do it. You've helped me and been my friend since I was seventeen, it's the least I can do." She answered as he smiled. She wouldn't tell him that she was risking meeting her brothers again. No one except those who happened to be in school with them would know they existed, or at least she hoped.

"Are you worried about your brothers?" he asked, and she gasped. "Don't be surprised. Our fathers and your mother were Death Eaters together. Your brothers had been to the Manor in those days."

She nodded. She had forgotten about 'Manor visits.'

"Does Pansy, Blaise, or Theodore know them?"

"No, they weren't Death Eaters yet."

Olivia sighed in relief. Armand and Marcellus were strong believers in Voldemort's cause and still hadn't been found since they fled from the Final Battle. Olivia knew it was because they were waiting for her. As Voldemort's Twins they had believed in torturing her until she caved into the Dark Arts and she hadn't yet. She still hadn't figured out how she was sorted into Slytherin.

"Just don't tell anyone about them. It would mean bringing back demons that I can't face." She pleaded.

"I won't, but wouldn't you at least want to tell Blaise? He is your boyfriend." Draco wondered aloud.

"No, just you is fine."

Draco grinned. He was ecstatic that he shared a secret with her.

* * *

Blaise had been a nervous wreck the moment Draco had left to have lunch with Olivia. He had sat perched at his desk staring at the doorway, barely eating his sandwich, for almost an hour when he heard her voice in the corridor. Draco entered first and she followed laughing a little at something Draco had said.

"Hello. How are my best mate and my best girl?" Blaise asked eyeing their response. They seemed like they had too much fun for just a casual lunch.

"We're fine. I just wanted to drop him back off and come say hello to you before I return to work." Olivia answered. She walked over to his desk and gave him a quick kiss, before heading back to the doorway. "I'll see you after work."

"Yes you will." He answered and waved as she departed. "She really is spectacular. I cannot believe I hadn't noticed until now that she was." Blaise remarked. He looked at Draco, who was still staring at the empty doorway.

"Yes, she is." Draco agreed. He then shook his head and continued to go over the paperwork for the last raid they had.


	3. Draco Takes the Lead

**Chapter Three: Draco Takes the Lead**

Draco's potion project had allowed him to spend more and more time with Olivia. They were growing close and Draco knew he would never be able to forget her. He caught himself imagining her every time he'd smell coconut, because of her shampoo.

"This is bad." Draco mumbled to himself as he wandered to Olivia's office for their weekly report and sometimes tests. Draco had already told her that he would be her test subject. This way no one would know her work on the project. He reached the doorway of her small lab-office and leaned on the door jamb to watch her flit around the room.

Olivia was cleaning up the lab while waiting for Draco to meet her. She had made some progress and she couldn't wait to show him.

"How's my favorite potions researcher?" Draco asked to make his presence known. She was a little startled, but regained composure and smiled at him. She really needed to stop doing that; it wasn't like her brothers were going to just appear like ghosts.

"I'm good. I have a lot to show you!" She practically shrieked with excitement.

Draco grinned at her. How could he not? She was extremely beautiful when she was excited.

"Show me." He said to her as he took a seat and held out his left forearm.

"She grabbed a small vial containing a dark green potion. He knew she had changed some of it because it was a brighter green last week. He waited for her to drop three small drops onto his forearm. After she did, something small happened, the Dark Mark appeared. Olivia held up five fingers and dropped one at a time as if she were counting down. Once she dropped the last finger, the mark disappeared.

"Just as I predicted, hopefully none of the Death Eaters still left out there noticed it activated for that long." She said, but he knew she was worrying about her brothers.

"Yes, but soon we'll use it to catch the rest." He said almost as if he was promising her.

"It should be ready in two weeks. I got it to bring the mark to the surface, now I have to figure out how to keep it there. The other potion will come after that. I promise I'll keep doing my best."

"I know you will."

* * *

That Monday, Draco felt extremely guilty about keeping something from his best friend. Blaise would never think that he was doing something with Olivia, but he would want to know what was going on. Draco knew that Olivia would never betray the privacy of her work so he decided he would tell Blaise. He walked back to the Auror offices after having stepped out to a café in London for dinner. He knew that Blaise would still be there tonight because of the extra paperwork he was getting with the raids happening in homes of ex-Voldemort supporters.

"Hey, how are those Voldemort Raids going?" Draco asked Blaise. Blaise nodded and gestured for Draco to have a seat.

"So are you finally going to tell me what you've been doing with my girlfriend?" Blaise asked and Draco sighed and nodded.

"She's working on two potions for me. I've commissioned them through the Ministry. They're dangerous potions so to prevent anyone harm I've also elected myself the test subject. I know she's loyal to her job and wouldn't tell you about it, so I am." Draco explained.

Blaise nodded. He never would believe that Draco would help Olivia cheat on him. He also never thought that Olivia would cheat in the first place. He just wanted to know the truth.

"Thanks mate." He said appreciatively while giving Draco a pat on the shoulder. "Should I tell her I know?"

"You can. She'd probably be relieved. She doesn't like keeping secrets. If you ask me, I have no idea how she was sorted into Slytherin.

They nodded and laughed together, before heading back to work.

"Zabini! Malfoy! Hurry! Something has happened in the Potions Section!" Hermione screamed from the doorway to the Auror offices. Both men looked at each other and dashed out.

They came into the lab and all of Olivia's work had been smashed. She looked to be recovering from a petrified state. Draco started to move toward her, but Hermione held his arm, as Blaise rushed forward to Olivia's side.

It was then that Hermione saw it. The look Draco Malfoy was giving Olivia was the same look she saw everyday from Ron. He loved her. Hermione watched Blaise with Olivia. Blaise didn't look at her the same way; he looked at her as if she were a trophy. Hermione vowed she'd help Draco Malfoy (as wrong and weird as it sounds) to be with Olivia because after Harry, she deserved more than being a trophy.

"Let him go to her now. He is her boyfriend, but I know you love her." Hermione whispered. "I'll help you. She doesn't deserve to be obsessed about again."

Draco nodded. Sixteen years ago he would loathe Hermione Weasley's existence, but today, she was the best ally he had. He heard Olivia crying and shook out of his thoughts.

"It…it was my brothers." She was crying to Blaise. "They told me that if I kept up with this potion, then they would come back and kill me."

"You have brothers?!" Blaise asked a little irate. He clearly missed the point about them killing her.

Draco could tell that Blaise was going to start an argument. He looked at Hermione and she let go of his arm.

"Minister Weasley, will I be able to take them home, or will they be needed for questioning right now?" Draco asked Percy. Percy nodded and gave a dismissive gesture, and Draco gathered both of his friends and apparated them to his flat. Before Blaise could get overly upset, Draco scribbled a note to Pansy and sent it with his owl. "Now Blaise, before you start in on her, wait until Pansy gets here."

"I'm not bloody waiting for Pansy! What the hell? You have brothers, Death Eater brothers nonetheless, and you didn't fucking tell me?!" Blaise went on a tirade. He started screaming unintelligibly when two distinct pops happened in Draco's flat. The first one he had expected. Pansy went straight to Olivia like an older sister. The other was Harry Potter.

"Oh bloody hell! Potter go home! She doesn't need you right now!" Draco demanded.

"No! She had Death Eater brothers! She hid them from me. Who sleeps with someone for five months and doesn't tell them about Death Eater brothers?" Harry spat. Another apparition pop and Draco shook his head. Who else could possibly have decided to join them?

"Harry James Potter! You will not yell at someone who just was petrified and attacked at the Ministry of Magic!" Hermione yelled with so much authority, Harry and Blaise immediately shut up. Draco nodded, got to give her credit; she always knew how to yell.

"But Hermione..." Harry practically whined.

"Don't, but Hermione, me! You are taking out your frustrations on an already victimized young girl. And you, you're supposed to be her boyfriend! I don't care if she didn't tell you that her uncle was Gilderoy Lockhart! You are supposed to be concerned about her if she's hurt!" Hermione yelled.

"That was when I was her boyfriend, I'm through. And Granger, shut up." Blaise said as he disapparated away.

Harry started to open his mouth.

"Harry Potter, so help me Merlin if you say one thing to that girl I will hex you." Hermione said as she looked at Olivia. She looked small, pale, hurt, and frightened. "Pansy, Draco, I think you can handle this from here," they both nodded, "Let's go Harry. I'm sure you're fiancée is waiting for you." She said the last part with more spite than she meant to, but it did the trick. She watched Harry disapparate, and then she did the same with a quick nod and smile to Draco. Pansy noted the nod and smile, but of course the brightest witch of their age would know he was in love with her.

"Olivia, do you want to come home with me?" Pansy asked.

Draco held his breath. His heart had leapt into his throat the moment he saw her sitting so fragile on the ground amongst the debris of her smashed office.

"Draco, can I stay with you?" She asked meekly.

"Yes." He said trying to refrain from letting the joy of her question from sneaking into his voice. Pansy got up as the matter was settled.

"Just take care of her." Pansy whispered as she got up to leave. Draco nodded, and hugged Pansy. She apparated and he went to Olivia. She sat trying to hide her face in her arms on his black Italian leather couch. He could hear her sobbing, even though she was trying hard not to.

"You can have my bed. I'll sleep in the second bedroom." Draco said to her lamely. He wanted her to stay, but he didn't have much experience with crying. It wasn't something that was done in the Malfoy family very often.

"It's…it's…okay." She managed to get out in between sobs. "I…can…sleep…in your guest bed."

"Nope, into my bed you go." He said lifting her up as if he were a groom carrying his bride. He carried her down the hall to his master bedroom at the end of it. The flat was one of the biggest in London. It had four bedrooms, one for him, one for a guest, and two that were offices. Draco set her down on the black silk sheets of his massive four poster bed. He watched as she stared at it in awe.

"This is the most beautiful bed I've ever seen Draco." She managed to say almost completely without tears. He felt a little more in control now that she was almost done crying.

"Well nothing but the best for a Malfoy." He laughed. "Are you going to be okay?"

"Yes, I'm just so scared now. I haven't seen my brothers for ten years, and they see their Dark Mark once, and suddenly they come straight for me. They tore apart all the work for your potion. Then they threw me to the ground and used some hex I hadn't heard before, and I laid there stiff until they found me. They told me that if I tried to continue work on this potion that they would finish the job that Mum and Dad never could do." She explained. It felt as if the words tumbled out and she hadn't meant to say them.

"What was that?" He asked as if he didn't already know the answer. He could remember the night he heard his father's suggestion to the LaMettes. Lucius had told them if she couldn't be molded like his son was, then she needed to be killed. Draco thought this was funny because in the end his father ended up worrying more about his own safety, than Voldemort's cause. However, the LaMettes were truly evil people and they would kill their daughter. Now the Terrifying Twins (as they were known in the ranks of the Death Eaters) were back to finish the job. Well hell if Draco was going to let them.

"They're going to kill me. They will whether or not I work on your potion. I'm a disgrace." She began to cry a little more. "And now they've made Blaise leave me, and Harry's going to come after me with Auror stuff…"

"No, to all of it, Blaise left because he's a wanker. He's my best friend, but he's a wanker. Potter will not bring Auror stuff into it, because I will go to Percy first and inform him of the crap Potter's pulling. And most importantly," Draco whispered the next words to her, "I will not let your brothers kill you."

"Thank you Draco." She responded. She put herself under the sheets, and felt exhausted.

Draco knew he should leave. She was tired. Her eyes were dark with fatigue. "Well I'll let you get some sleep." He said and turned for the door.

"Draco? Stay here with me?" She asked. He looked at the door. He knew the better thing would be to keep walking out of the room, but he was in love with her, and her wants came first. He walked back towards the bed, took off his shoes, and lay with her. She placed her head on his chest and listened to the sound of his heart beat. Soon she had drifted into sleep.

About two hours later, Draco felt a sharp kick in his shin. He fought to wake up, and noticed that Olivia was struggling against him.

"Shh. Livi it's okay. I'm here." He mumbled into her hair to try and calm her. It didn't work, so Draco did the best thing he could, he grabbed his wand, flicked, and said, "Nocturne Pacem." It was a spell that his mother had taught him when he was a young boy and would have nightmares about the dark. He would wake up and tell himself to have a peaceful night, then he would dream of anything that made him happy. He snuggled back into Olivia when he heard her mumble something.

"Draco, kiss me." She mumbled. She was half asleep, and half awake. She had been startled by the sudden dynamic change in her dreams. Suddenly there was Draco and she wanted to do nothing more than kiss him.

Draco stared at Olivia for a few seconds. _Had she just asked him to kiss her?_ He thought to himself as he watched her in her seeming sleep. Finally, he was driven to madness and did kiss her.

Olivia was startled at first because there were lips caressing hers, but when her eyes fluttered open Draco was already in pursuit of exploring her mouth. Olivia hadn't had more than thirty seconds to assess what was going on, and in the end decided it was exactly what she had wanted. She gripped the t-shirt he was wearing in her fists as they took over one another's mouths. She whimpered and he groaned.

He had started to reach for her panties, when she suddenly stiffened. What was she doing? Hadn't Harry and Carver Lexington been enough ego-bruising for her.

Draco sensed her tension. "Livi, what's the matter?" He didn't know when he had decided that's what he'd call her, but it seemed to fit.

"I can't do this Draco."

"Is it because of Blaise?"

"No." She shook her head. "I mean I cannot do this. Sex, I can't do it."

He looked at her baffled. "What? Are you sick or something?"

"No," she sighed in frustration, "I mean I cannot do sex. Harry and Carver had told me that I was useless at it."

Draco was livid. How could anyone be callous enough to tell a fragile woman she was bad at sex, and who was this Carver person? "You can't be useless at it. I bet you they were just not good with you. And who is Carver?"

"Carver was a Slytherin two years older than me, but two years younger than you." She explained to him. "And I really am bad at sex." She added as if that proved it to him.

"What did they tell you that you were bad at?"

"They both told me that I was lazy. That I didn't provide them enough…stimulation." Olivia explained rolling her hand in the air as if she had searched for the right word.

"I bet you one galleon that you provide enough stimulation. I think Potter and this other git had no idea how to get you excited enough to provide for them." He gambled with her.

She shook her head at first, but then he bent to her neck and gently nibbled a spot. Her whole body shivered and she let out a small moan. If he was going to make her feel like that, and she was going to win a galleon, then she might as well let him try.

"Okay. You have a bet." She whispered and Draco went to work.


	4. Additional Players

**Chapter Four: Additional Players**

Olivia had gone back to work by Thursday. However, she felt different. She wasn't afraid of her brothers. She didn't care what Harry Potter though of her. Right now she was more than ecstatic that Tuesday morning she lost a galleon.

"Olivia? How are you feeling?" Hermione asked concerned, not noticing the spring in the younger girl's step.

"I'm fine. I've gotten over it. I don't care. They can come after me, but that doesn't mean I have to fear them." Olivia explained. Draco had been teaching her how to duel and fight during the two days she had spent recovering at this flat. He had even been a gentleman about everything. They only had sex that one time, and even though he won the wager, he didn't push Olivia to do it again.

"Figured it out, did you?" Hermione knowingly asked. "He's in love with you."

"I know, and at the same time I don't know. I love him too, but what about Blaise? It doesn't seem fair. He noticed me first." Olivia answered guilt and sadness evident in her voice.

"Follow your heart. Blaise made his choice by walking out on you. Be happy, that's all you can do." Hermione said giving her a pat on the shoulder. She walked off to her office in the Magical Creatures wing.

* * *

Draco was not having a good morning. He knew he'd eventually have to face Blaise after what he had done. Rule: don't shag your mate's girl.

Draco was continuing down the corridor when he felt something collide with his face.

"Oi, bloody hell!" Draco yelled as he assessed his attacker. "Merlin, Potter! What the bloody hell was that for?!"

"It was bad enough to see her with Zabini, but now you want her too?"

"You've got to be bloody kidding me? You're upset because I may or may not have snogged your ex-girlfriend? Oh Potter, you have outdone yourself in the full-of-myself department. Leave her alone, you don't want her. You just don't want her to be happy with an ex-Death Eater. Too bad! Just because you destroyed Voldemort doesn't mean you can tell everyone else what to do. Your precious Dumbledore would be disappointed in you." Draco said fuming. It took all of his self-control to not lash back at him. Draco decided he'd let that weigh Potter down as he turned to walk to the Auror offices.

Blaise knew he'd messed up with Olivia, but he didn't know how to fix it. Especially, since Olivia had decided to stay the last two days at Draco's place. Somehow he wasn't mad at his friend. Blaise had thought it was a game between the two of them, and Potter, but Blaise saw how Draco looked at her. He was in love, and Blaise was smart enough to know his own attraction was lust. He would concede to Draco, and help him fend off Potter.

Draco entered the office while Blaise was lost in his thoughts. Draco looked at his childhood friend and hoped telling him the truth wouldn't kill it.

"Blaise?" Draco asked to get his attention.

"Don't worry Draco. You love her, and I don't. You are my best mate. I wouldn't fight you for something I don't even want that bad and will make you happy." Blaise explained before Draco could open his mouth again. Draco just stared blankly.

"How do you do that? You always know what I'm about to tell you." Draco asked in wonder.

"We've been best mates since before we could walk. If I didn't know what you were thinking I'd doubt our friendship." Blaise explained easily. Draco nodded. It was true. Draco could have stopped and surveyed Blaise and knew that he would have been fine and would have known exactly what he was going to say.

* * *

Armand LaMette sat with his copy of the Daily Prophet. He couldn't believe that his sister would go back to work at the Ministry after what he and Marcellus did to her last week.

"Marcellus! She's gone back to work. There's an article about her being strong and rising above, and a bunch more bullocks!" Armand shouted across the small cabin that served as their hideout.

"Well maybe she needs a different lesson." Marcellus said bringing a Prophet article from a few weeks ago to his twin.

Armand saw the picture and grinned at his brother. "I love how you think brother."

"I know brother."

* * *

Blaise was in his hotel office. He was trying to come up with a plan to get Potter off of Olivia. His best mate deserved the girl he wanted. Yes, he may have been a Death Eater once, but so had Blaise. It was how they grew up. You didn't talk back or say no to a Death Eater father. Draco had made amends. He had done so much in the ten years that had passed. He suffered the loss of his father, the institutionalization of his mother, donated to several after-war causes, and had put many of his schoolmates in prison. If that isn't the guy who deserved to be happy, then no one did. Not even St. Potter.

While Blaise was trying to formulate a plan, apparition 'pops' were heard in the lobby. Blaise looked up when he heard them enter to see two black-haired men that had similar eyes to…

"You're Olivia's brothers." Blaise gasped as he looked at them really good. They had definitely been Slytherins in school and were meant to be there.

"Give the wizard a prize!" Marcellus announced as he used a wordless magic mind-destroying spell. It was hard to cure, but not impossible. It would be enough to get the point across to their baby sister.

* * *

Olivia was wondering where Blaise was. He had asked her to dinner to apologize, but he was late. It was uncharacteristic of him. After sitting for twenty-five minutes, Olivia decided that if he didn't show in five, she was leaving.

"Hey beautiful." Draco announced as he came up behind her. He watched as she turned to see him. Her dark red hair was swept up in a ponytail with strands across her forehead. He longed to brush them out of her eyes. He noticed that she sat in regular pair of jeans, silky green tank top with black lace, and a black suit jacket.

"What are you doing here?" She asked as she took in how dressed up he was. He was wearing a black button down shirt, black slacks, black leather shoes, and a black dress cloak. Partnered with his pale features and silver-gray eyes, the look was breath-taking and menacing at the same time.

"Blaise told me to give him half an hour to talk to you before showing up. He said by then he'd have apologized and told you that he was happy you found me. Why, is he not here?"

"No, he's late."

Draco knew in that instant that something was terribly wrong. His friend had never been late to anything a day in his life. Draco knew where Blaise would have been before he would go to dinner.

"He's at his hotel office, and something is wrong." Draco said out loud.

"Wait, how would you know that?" Olivia asked confused.

"The same way he knew I was in love with you. We've been best mates for as long as I can remember, I know him and he knows me." Draco answered. He quickly disapparated, and because she didn't know what else to do, Olivia followed.

When the two had reappeared in Blaise's office, the sight before them brought Olivia to tears. Blaise was sitting in the corner of his office on the floor, rocking, and muttering unintelligible things. It was almost as if he'd been driven mad. Sitting on his desk, was the Prophet article from when her and Blaise had attended the opera. Her brothers had done this as a warning.

"This is my fault entirely." She cried. "I should have known that they wouldn't have given up. Draco, I did this."

"This isn't your fault. Your brothers are sick and always have been. This was a scare-tactic, granted, an effective one, but it's not your fault." Draco said after sending his Patronus to get more Aurors.

Olivia knew that logically he was right, but she couldn't make herself believe it. Blaise was hurting and it was her fault. She sat on the floor crying and hugging her knees until the other Aurors arrived.

Ron Weasley was the first to meet them.

"What the bloody hell happened here?" He asked as Harry entered with Ginny. He glared at Draco as he tried to comfort Olivia.

"What did you do?" Harry barked at Olivia.

"What did I do?! I didn't do anything! Blaise was late for dinner with me, when Draco showed up. We knew he'd be here and he was. He was attacked and left here." Olivia shouted. She was sick of Harry Potter pushing her around.

"Don't talk to Harry like that!" Ginny yelled at her. Her cheeks were a rosy color and it set off the ginger color of her hair in a way that was unflattering.

"Weaselette you may want to leave hr alone. I don't know why you're here, but I won't tolerate you yelling at her after the stress she's been under." Draco threatened.

"She's here because she's training. She's going to be one of the new Aurors." Harry answered with pride. The tension in the small office was palpable.

"Harry and Ginny! You're behavior has been disgraceful these past few days. You're lucky I don't tell Mrs. Weasley." Hermione scolded. No one knew when she'd shown up, but Olivia was grateful that she had.

"Mione, what has gotten into you? You've been defending Slytherins left and right." Ginny said unhappily.

"Well let's see, what is wrong with me? How about it's been at least six years since anyone in this room has been in school, and most of you are holding onto petty school rivalries. There are bigger problems out there right now. For starters, Blaise Zabini, a top Auror, is disabled. Next problem, Harry's jealous of anyone Olivia's with even though he doesn't want to be with her himself. Third problem, Ginny's insecure about Harry working at the Ministry with Olivia so she joins as an Auror to keep watch. Our final problem, and probably the biggest, there are two maniac men out there trying to kill a Ministry employee! That's what is wrong with me, the fact that my friends cannot act their own bloody age!" She explained becoming angrier and angrier with each word. Draco was sure he could see her blood boiling under her skin.

Ron clapped. It seemed the most appropriate thing to do after a speech like that. Draco joined her.

"Thank you." She said smiling. She let Harry and Ginny swallow that as she went to help Olivia stand.

"So you're taking their side?" Harry asked.

"Oh bugger Harry, did you not hear a word she said? Even I'm not that thick." Ron muttered exasperated. He went over to his wife's side.

"My best mate's turned on me too? Fine." Harry said taking Ginny's hand and they disapparated.

"I just want to point out that I've always known he was an egotistical git." Draco said to lighten the mood.

Hermione laughed a little. "Yes, and you're still a foul loathsome evil little cockroach." And the four of them laughed a little more before realizing the severity of the situation.

Blaise still sat curled in the corner, but Olivia noticed he was holding some parchment. She snuck over and retrieved it before the other three could notice.

"Maybe we should take him to St. Mungo's." She suggested and they all agreed.

* * *

Olivia sat alone in her room. The memory of Blaise sitting in the hospital bed put under a sleeping spell fresh in her mind. They said they have cured this spell before, but it takes weeks to do so. Olivia just felt awful about it all and now she was staring at her hands. She knew this parchment was a message from her brothers, but she was not ready to read it.

"Olivia? Can I come in?" Pansy asked from the other side of the door.

Olivia stashed the parchment under her pillow, and opened the door for her friend.

"Hey. How are you?" Pansy asked sympathy evident in her voice.

"I'm a wreck. I have no idea how much more emotional turmoil I can take. I hate my brothers. I hate Harry Potter. I really am glad Hermione Weasley has been helping me. I'm sad and guilty about Blaise. And, most importantly, I'm in love with Draco Malfoy." Olivia blurted out because she couldn't keep it bottled up anymore.

"Well that is a lot to digest, but not impossible to deal with right now. Let's start with the background stuff. You hate your brothers and they are a threat, but beyond helping catch them there's not much you can do. Harry Potter is dealing with his giant scar-head, and once more, nothing you can do. You can befriend Hermione and thank her. The Blaise thing is a little more complicated, because I wouldn't know how you're feeling. You shouldn't feel guilty though. However, with this Draco thing, it's either all or nothing. He's in love with you too."

"I know. We explored that Tuesday morning." Olivia blushed.

"Okay, then, what's the problem?" Pansy asked giggling.

"My brothers went after Blaise because they thought we were together still. I can barely live with the guilt from it. If they found out about Draco and did something to him, I would regret ever letting him get close to me. I would want to die instantly.

"I'm sure that's a risk he is willing to take."

"But I'm not."

"Well you have to tell him that. Otherwise, Draco's going to attach himself to you, and you'll never feel at ease."

Olivia nodded. Pansy was right. Draco would hover around her and her brothers surely would find out and possibly kill him.

"Anyone home?" Theodore called from the living room.

"I'm in here love. I'll be out in a moment." Pansy answered, then looked back at Olivia, "You need to make a decision and do something about it." She stood up and gave Olivia a kiss on the head before leaving the younger girl alone in her room.

Olivia reached back under the pillow and pulled out the piece of parchment. She unfolded it and sure enough a message from her brothers was inside.

_Dearest Baby Sister,_

_If you want to save your friend, and not see anymore end up like him, then you should meet us at home. We'll be there until midnight. If you don't show, someone else takes the consequences._

_Love,_

_Big Brothers_

Olivia didn't want to return to her childhood home, but it was the way to end her brothers' rage. So she packed up some clothes and wrote three separate notes, one to Pansy, one to Draco, and one to Ron and Hermione.

* * *

Two hours later, Olivia stood in the ballroom of the LaMette Manor. Memories came rushing back.

"Well, well, Armand, what do we have here?" Marcellus asked wickedly.

"I believe it's our baby sister, Olivia, finally returning home." Armand answered with a matching grin.

"Yes, it's me. Small wonder considering this is where your note said to go. What do you want from me?"

"She found our note. Well sweet little sister, we want you to help us break Mum and Dad out of Azkaban."


	5. Personal Foul

**Chapter Five: Personal Foul**

Olivia had helped her brothers get their parents out of Azkaban using her Bestijuice Potion. She was ashamed that something she had created for good would be used by her own evil family. Now she had to suffer in the dungeons of her childhood home once again.

"I hate my family." Olivia mumbled to herself. She was sitting in a cell she occupied a lot as a child. "I'm twenty-four years old and I'm still being punished the same way I was as a child.

* * *

_Pansy,_

_I know that I've left on short notice, but this is for the best. I couldn't live with myself if my brothers brought harm to anyone else._

_Love,_

_Olivia_

Pansy read the note that Olivia had left in the kitchen for her. She panicked. Olivia had gone to her psycho brothers. This was not good.

Pansy immediately Flooed to the Ministry. She needed Draco. She ran through the corridors. She didn't care that she looked crazed. One of her best friends was in trouble. She rushed into the Auror offices and stopped at Draco's desk. Her breathing was ragged and heavy from all the running.

"Pansy, I'm busy. I just found out that Olivia's parents just escaped from Azkaban." Draco said a bit annoyed.

"Yeah, and she may have helped do it." Pansy answered shoving the note at Draco. He took it from her, read it, and shook his head.

"Why do I always date the stupid ones?" Draco asked.

"Hey! I'm not stupid!" Pansy exclaimed, and Ginny suppressed a laugh. Pansy and Draco glared at her.

"No, Pansy, you are not stupid. I agree with that, but in my adult life, I have dated stupidity. I'm glad you brought this. It might help." He said, gloom evident in his voice. He had an idea now of how her parents escaped. "Potter, when your godfather got out of Azkaban, how did he do it?"

"He became an Animagus." Harry answered matter-of-factly.

"That's what I thought. They escaped using Olivia's Bestijuice potion. The one she created for the safe transformation into an animal for about an hour." Draco explained.

"Oh that's right. We were there the night they had a big press event in her honor." Harry reminisced. He had actually still been dating Olivia at that point. It was the first time they had sex, bit of rubbish it was though.

"So if you were Olivia's family, where would you go?" Pansy asked the room.

"Home." Harry said automatically. He thought about how Sirius was prisoner in his home when he had escaped.

"Well then to her home we go." Ron said joining the conversation for the first time.

* * *

Cadence LaMette had always been a lovely woman, and she continued to be once she had taken a bath in her private quarters in the upstairs part of the LaMette Manor. She was five-foot seven, she had long, dark red hair, deep green eyes, and a commanding presence. She finished dressing into one of her favorite jade satin ball gown, and proceeded to the dungeons. Not a single bit of dust dared to touch her dress that was how commanding she really was. She stopped once she reached the spot outside of Olivia's cell.

"Olivia, dear, if you would stop being so much like your wretched birthfather and be more like a LaMette, then you would be a lot happier." Cadence said with an ice-cold voice.

"Mother, I will never join the ranks of this family. I was strong enough to withstand you as a child, and I still am." Olivia retorted. Her insolence drove her mother insane, and as expected punishment her mother gave her a good ten minute long Crucio. "I'm glad some things never change." Olivia sputtered once she had recovered from the pain.

"You, you are the punishment for my one and only indiscretion. Your father has had so many in our marriage, but alas, as a woman I should never have any. He's never known that you are not his. Only you and I carry that secret." Cadence blamed herself.

"Actually, now, we are the only ones that carry that secret. Headmaster Dumbledore knew. He pulled me aside that first day at Hogwarts before the feast, and told me that I would be sorted in Slytherin to prevent anymore harm. Too bad that weren't true, but it was a good sentiment none-the-less." Olivia explained to her mother. "So you see Mother, I never really was a true Slytherin. I was a new breed of them. One that Dumbledore hoped would promote friendship among the houses, and I did. The moment Voldemort fell, I became best friends with a Gryffindor, and Headmistress McGonagall found a spot for me to live in the castle until I graduated. I never will be like you, and this family."

Cadence face was pale-white at the confession from her only daughter. "Does this mean the old fool knew of my affair?"

"I'm not sure, and I don't care. I know. I'm sure even Father knows. He can't honestly believe that I'm his, when I am so far removed from your beliefs."

"I'm sure he doesn't, but what does it matter now. We're going to be rid of you soon enough." Cadence said, as she swept away from the disheveled dungeons.

Olivia knew that she had done the right thing, but it didn't change the hole inside of her. Her birthfather, did not even know she existed. She didn't even know his name. She just knew that she had a lot of his personality and a lot of his face. She had a rounder, softer face than her family did. The only other thing she knew about him was that he was a Gryffindor in school, and her mother berated herself for it all the time. Not that Olivia would defend her mother or ease her pain, but she hadn't known the man was a Gryffindor until after the liaison. Her mother then passed Olivia off as Reynaud's daughter, once she had figured out that she wasn't.

Olivia sat back down on the dingy cot in the cell, and began to cry. She wasn't crying because she was afraid, she just needed to cry.

* * *

Draco had known where the LaMette Manor was. It had been a place from his childhood, just like any other pureblooded place would have been. He remembered going to tea parties with his mother and later, galas in the LaMette Manor. It was simple enough to go to, but would there be wards or anything else of the like?

"Malfoy? What's your plan?" Ron asked. He could tell that Draco had been deep in thought or memory, and they really needed to get this case underway.

"I can't be on this case Weasley. There's too much personal interest in it." Draco answered. He would love to help put the LaMettes back in Azkaban, but he wouldn't think clearly knowing that Olivia was with them.

"Malfoy, you have to stay on this case. Who knows what condition we'll find Olivia in, and do you want Harry to be the one there with her?" Ron asked. It was enough to convince Draco.

"You're right Weasley. Can we request your wife for this? I know she's not an Auror, but she's the most level-headed, controlling person I know." Draco replied. He was pretty sure that he would need her there to keep him from ripping Harry Potter apart.

"Actually, no need to request. I talked to Percy this morning, and told him that I was going to help you guys whether he made it official or not. Percy, knowing how tenacious I was, just agreed to give me temporary Auror status." Hermione chimed from the doorway. She came to Draco's side. "Who would have thought in a million years, that Draco Malfoy would request my presence?"

"Not me, but, I did." Draco said conceding to their banter. Honestly, it had been ten years, and Draco had become a whole new person. The death of his father and his mother's hospitalization were really what had turned him. His mind had thought about the anguish they suffered being part of Voldemort's cause. He would not be like that anymore.

"So Malfoy, have you ever been to her home?" Hermione asked. It would help if one of them knew how to navigate the LaMette home.

"Yes, I have. However, I don't know all of it. There were about four wings that I was never in." He answered.

"Four wings?" Ron asked. He couldn't believe any family needed that much room.

"Yeah, it's no big deal. The Manor has about seven." Draco said nonchalantly.

Ron just stared openmouthed. How could anyone need that much space? Hermione used her left hand to shut his mouth. They needed to come up with a plan.

"Malfoy, we need a plan." Hermione said.

"Well, maybe we can run it like a Death Eater raid." Malfoy answered. "You know, we think the house is abandoned, so we're going in for possible Dark Arts artifacts, and then we actually find out what's happening."

"That's actually really good. We should do that." Hermione said.

* * *

Reynaud LaMette was a menacing man when he was angry. It was where his twin sons got their antics. They were the younger versions of him. He had no clue how his daughter was the way she was. He was actually travelling down into the dungeons to see her now.

"Olivia, dear, would you like to come upstairs?" He asked. He had always wanted a daughter to parade around his friends in beautiful gowns, but Olivia had been a disappointment. She had never been like her family. It was a wonder that she had even made it into Slytherin.

"No, Father, I would like to continue on in my cell because I'm positive that you want me to cause harm to someone." Olivia said in her parent-defying voice. The moment it left her mouth she knew that she would get some sort of dark curse thrown at her. As if thinking it made it happen her father flung a painful curse at her. One she had received years ago. It felt like her stomach was exploding. She doubled over in pain.

"Why have you always been a disappointment daughter?" He asked. He looked down at her. He hated her. She should have been his pride and joy and instead she was lacking. He would have thrown the killing curse at her if he didn't think she would be needed later. Her potion-making abilities were the best of any wizard or witch. He knew because she was always spoken highly of by the Prophet, and had created two new potions in her six years working for the Ministry.

"I'm a disappointment because I have a heart." She said, and he threw a Crucio at her, and she crawled into her mind. She thought of happy things that would keep her sane. She thought of Pansy and her sister-like friendship with her. She thought of Hermione smiling at her. She thought of Blaise making her birthday more enjoyable. Finally, she brought her memory back of Tuesday morning with Draco. The most important memory she carried with her. He loved her, and he had taught her that she wasn't useless physically. It was that thought that she clung to the most. Her father finally sent one last curse at her, the one that would hurt her the most, Obfirmo Inmens. The mind-locking curse, she would be locked in her mind until he uttered the counter-curse.

* * *

Draco entered the LaMette Manor as if he owned it. He was there on official Ministry business, and it wasn't his fault if the escaped prisoners used a condemned house as their hideout. The moment he stepped out of the fireplace, he knew people were here. He could just feel it. Hermione, Ron, Harry, and Ginny stepped out of the fireplace after him. They were prepared to fight. Draco was prepared to rescue. They heard movement, and before them stood two dark-haired men armed with wands.

"Well if it isn't Terrible and Torturing." Draco greeted Olivia's twin brothers coolly.

"Look Armand, it's baby Malfoy. He's an Auror now too. Only makes sense for Lucius's son to become the epitome of everything the Dark Lord was against." Marcellus said as he took a step forward, but stopped and fell to the floor completely stiff. Draco looked at his fellow Aurors, and saw Ron wink.

"Bloody hell! What did you do to my brother?!" He shouted. "Draco Malfoy you are a disgrace. You're the enemy. No one will align themselves with Harry Potter and live in my presence. Avada…" He never finished because he was Stupefied and put in the same body-bind curse that his brother was.

"Thanks." Draco said.

"You're welcome." Ron answered.

In that moment, Reynaud LaMette appeared in the foyer. He assessed the situation.

"What have you done to my sons?" He asked without any emotion in his voice.

"Nothing they didn't deserve." Ginny smarted.

"And nothing we won't do to you if you don't tell me where Olivia is." Draco said his voice thick with anger.

"Oh, young Malfoy, taken with my daughter are you? Well then I'm sure you'll be happy to know she's in the dungeons. What you won't be happy to know is that she can't be saved if I am killed."

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked. Leave it to her to ask questions in a hostage situation.

"I mean that I have given my daughter the mind-locking curse." He answered. Hermione gasped. Draco narrowed his eyes into steel slits.

"Take her out of it. If you don't take her out of it, I swear you will regret the day you crossed me." He yelled at Mr. LaMette. The other four assessed Draco, and this is the menacing, bully Draco that they remembered from their years at Hogwarts. Except, he was in love, and he was fighting for her life.

"You don't scare me." Reynaud answered. "Cadence! We need to go now!" He screamed at no one, and apparated himself and his sons away. Draco could only hope that he couldn't have gotten Olivia away either.

He ran around the LaMette Manor looking for her.

* * *

Olivia was living in her mind. She could see outside her body, but she couldn't make it respond. Instead she could just hope that the voices that were shouting her name would know where to find the door to the dungeons. She clung onto her memories hoping they would keep her from going completely nutters.

* * *

Draco happened to remember that there was a door to some dungeons in the library in this wing. He found it, and hurried down the steps as fast as he could carry himself. He reached the end of the hall and there was a split. He could go left or right. Something in his gut told him to go right, so he did. He hadn't been a successful Auror by ignoring his gut.

He found her behind a large door in a room full of cells that reminded him of Azkaban's. She was pale, and lying in a ball on the dingy cot.

"Livi, I know what he's done to you. And I'm so sorry. We'll find a way to get you out of this." He whispered to her. "She's here!" He shouted down the hall to the group.

Hermione was the first to reach them. She looked at Olivia. The poor girl was in a ball on the cot, her usually tan, round face was now pale. Her eyes were glazed over and jagged. Sure signs that the Crucio had been performed and the Obfirmo Inmens was in place. However, Hermione knew that Olivia could hear what they were saying, and if she held onto her sanity they could get her out almost unscathed.

"Listen, Draco, we need to get her to St. Mungo's. I trained as a Healer a bit after the war. I think I could get her put into my care there." Hermione said touching his shoulder slightly. He lifted her up, and carried her past an unhappy Harry. Hermione looked at him. "Harry, if you so much as say anything right now, I will regret to inform you that our friendship will be over." She said simply and with finality. He nodded his head even though he would eventually make his opinion known. He was Harry Potter. People always listened to him.

* * *

Olivia recognized St. Mungo's the minute Draco had carried her out of the fireplace. If only she could communicate with them. That was the genius of the mind-locking curse. You were confined to your mind and the lack of communication with anyone but yourself was what drove you mad.

She could hear Hermione explaining to the people at St. Mungo's. She could hear their voices tremble when answering Hermione. They were going to take her to her own room where only Hermione and a member of the staff that Hermione and Draco chose could help her. Only a few months ago, in April, she was turning twenty-four, and now in June, she was confined to her mind.

She stopped moving and was lightly set on a bed. Draco hovered over her, touching her arm, telling her that he loved her and that he would get her out of this. Olivia hoped that was true. She didn't know how strong she was. How long could she fight off the madness?

* * *

Two days later, Olivia was starting to crack. She started talking to herself in her mind. She would ask whoever was in the room with her body how they were doing, and then answer her for them. She longed to actually talk to the people in the room.

She could hear Hermione checking all of her vital signs, and sighing audibly. She knew it was because the older girl was frustrated. Hermione wanted her out of her mind just as badly as Olivia wanted to be out. Draco and Hermione had chosen Pansy for the second watch for obvious reasons. Pansy had been a Healer since she left school, and she had lived with Olivia for six years. Olivia liked hearing Pansy's voice. It made her think of being at home in the flat. It was more to hold onto so that she didn't slip into a complete nutter state. The only other voice that kept her sane was Draco's, and he hadn't been there as much in the two days. She could hear Pansy and Hermione talking about how he was hunting down her father. Olivia just hoped he didn't get himself hurt.


	6. Wait, Time Out!

_**AN: It was brought to my attention that I was not quite correct on my blood typing. So I have made the correction in this chapter.**_

**Chapter Six: Wait, Time Out!**

Draco's birthday sucked. His best mate was in the hospital, his girlfriend was in the hospital, and he was no closer to finding Olivia's family than he was three days ago. Three days ago, June 2nd, he brought Olivia to St. Mungo's because her father had locked her in her own mind. Draco wasn't sure if she could be saved. The only person adept enough at making a potion cure was the one trapped. He was good at potions in school, but that was years ago. Hermione was good at potions then, too, but who knows if she could do this. Draco figured it couldn't hurt to ask. He popped over to St. Mungo's. He navigated his way to Olivia's private room.

When he got there, he noticed the other bed was occupied. Draco almost stormed out of the room to demand the meaning of this, but Pansy caught him first. She looked official in the pale green scrubs, her dark hair pulled back, and her soft facial features hadn't changed since school. Even though for the first year after the war she was still living Voldemort's ideas. She was living in a hovel and Draco had found her and convinced her to think about her life. He remembered that day.

"_Pans, you need to let it go. Look at what it has done to our parents and us. It's not worth it." Draco had said to her. She looked up at him and nodded. He was right. She had been fighting the losing battle for a year._

Pansy remembered that day too. It was the day she chose to go back to Hogwarts (with a promise to McGonagall from Draco that she would be different), graduate, and join the Healer Training program at St. Mungo's. She had helped so many witches and wizards since then.

"It's Blaise in that other bed Draco. I thought it would be better to treat them together." She told him and Draco smiled at her. She had been his friend for a lifetime, and just like he knew Blaise, he knew her.

"Thanks." He whispered. "I actually came by to see if Hermione was here?"

"No, she needed rest, she hadn't left for forty-eight hours, and she was getting tired. I sent her home and told her not to come back until after lunch time." Pansy answered.

Draco took the opportunity to scrawl a note to Hermione and Ron to meet him for lunch. They responded quickly that they would meet him.

* * *

He sat at the small café waiting for the Weasleys. He drank some tea as he waited. He actually despised the stuff, but his mother insisted and he grew to deal with his dislike.

Hermione noticed that the stress was starting to age Draco. Today was his twenty-eighth birthday, and he seemed much older than that as he sat at the small, round table.

"Happy birthday!" She said as cheerfully as she could even with the humid June weather proving it to be ominous.

"There's nothing 'happy' about it, but thank you." He answered motioning for the married couple to sit. They did, and scanned the menu. "I'll pay for this. Have whatever you like."

"Thanks Malfoy." Ron said as he made his selection. He had finally lost his bad habits of always eating and shoveling food down his throat. Hermione and he had enrolled in etiquette classes 'for fun' as she put it, and Ron had actually learned.

"I wanted to ask you if you'd be willing to try and come up with a potion to help Olivia." Draco asked Hermione. She could see he was pleading with his eyes. Luckily, for him, she had already started work on a counter-spell or potion. She wasn't sure which.

"Actually, I was going to ask you if it were okay if I worked on something like that. So we're thinking alike now Malfoy. What do you say to that?"

"I'd say you're a bloody know-it-all Gryffindor, but I know you'll take that as a compliment. So instead I'll just say thanks, and hope you can fix her." Draco humbly answered.

* * *

"Olivia, I know you can hear me. I want you to know I'm going to help Hermione try and save you. Please hold on," Pansy promised Olivia. She gently rubbed the palm of the younger girl's hand.

A noise at the doorway startled Pansy. It was Hermione, Ron, and Draco.

"Hermione, I thought I told you to get some rest," stated Pansy.

"I did, and now I'm back to relieve you," she answered. Hermione went over to Blaise's bed first. He was going to be fine. The potion to pull him out was almost complete.

Draco went over to Blaise as well.

"Hold in there mate, you'll be out of it soon," he comforted his friend. Blaise just sat shaking back and forth. Draco wandered over to Olivia's bed. He knew she could hear him, even if she couldn't respond. "Olivia, please try and remember I'm out here waiting for you. I'm trying to find your father to release you. I need you to be okay. I need you," he whispered to the fragile woman lying completely still on the bed closest to the window. He gave her forehead a swift kiss.

Olivia could hear them. She wanted to tell them that she was trying desperately to keep herself intact for them, but it was getting harder with every day that went by. _Hurry._ She thought to herself. She was sure that no one had heard her, but she knew they were thinking it, too.

* * *

After a month, Hermione was starting to lose momentum. She had been working vigorously on something that would help her friend. Right now she sat talking to the girl, alone. Blaise had been given a potion that revived him from his neurotic state and he was sent to Draco's flat to be watched.

"I'm going to talk to you Olivia; I need you to know that you're not alone. I don't want you to lose your sanity. So if you can hear me, then I need you to listen and cling to my words. Let's see, well Harry and Ginny, not that you really care, but it's something to talk about, are getting married in September. That's only two months away. Harry's birthday is this month, and I'm not sure what to get him. Ginny told me she's going to be a seductive witch and well, you know, with him. She was blabbing on about how she's well-practiced. I don't even want to know what that means. I mean I know she has had her share of boyfriends, but really, that's just disturbing," yapped Hermione as she checked the normal life signs. Pansy would be coming in to help her in a few minutes. She figured having a full report for the former Slytherin would be helpful.

Olivia had heard Hermione, and as much as she clung to listening to her soft voice, she wanted to hear about Draco. Yes, he occasionally talked to her, himself, but it was rare. He was out trying to find her father, and she wanted to know how he was doing. The memory of what it was like to be happy for those few minutes was the one that was keeping Olivia sane. A month was a long time to live in one's own head.

The door to the room opened, and Pansy strutted into the room in her bright pink scrubs. Her long, inky-black hair pulled back in a pink tie. Hermione watched her. She was a lively woman even though she had been through rough times. Hermione couldn't even fathom what it must have been like to cling to ideals that were shunned. Pansy had done a one-eighty in the last seven years, and Hermione actually admired that about her. Even after living like a homeless person for a year, Pansy's porcelain doll-like facial features were still soft (even her flat nose that when she wrinkled her face in displeasure made her look like a pug).

"How does she look today?" She asked coming to the side of Olivia's bed where Hermione was, also, standing.

"Same as always," Hermione muttered sadly. She knew that there was very little chance of her creating a potion that would help Olivia out of it. The darkest mind curse had been used on her and only the person who said it could reverse it. It was one of the reasons that the curse had been stomped out of most witches and wizards' memories. It was really quite dangerous, but of course families rooted in the dark arts would have passed it down. Hermione was willing to bet even Lucius Malfoy had known that curse.

"I wake up every morning wishing this was a dream. You should have seen Draco. He was actually happy. He deserves to be happy. I mean I know everyone worships Harry Potter and all, but Draco's changed, and suffered through a lot to do it. Hell, I have Theo, and I'm happy, and I for bloody sure don't deserve it," explained Pansy. She moved a few strands of Olivia's hair out of her face. "She's really pretty. The two of them just noticed it in April, on her birthday, you know?"

"Yes, well boys are dense. It took Ron years to figure out us. However, she is pretty. I wish I had such a young-looking face." Hermione admired Olivia's facial structure. It was a rounded heart-shape with a slender, almost pointy nose, pouty lips, and small, kind of beady eyes. Olivia reminded Hermione of a cherub, but prettier and more feminine. Olivia was five foot two, and almost the perfect hourglass shape.

Both women stared at the younger, frozen girl for a few more minutes before moving on to do their own things. Now that Pansy was here, Hermione would go to the connected potions lab and start work on that while Pansy took watch of Olivia. Hermione started to leave the room when Pansy noticed something wrong with the bed.

"Hermione, did you spill something on the sheets?"

"No, why?"

"The sheets are a dark red around her waist," Pansy observed. She got close, and she instantly knew it was blood. "Oh, Merlin! She was pregnant. It's a miscarriage!"

"Bloody hell," Hermione started, "How do you think…"

"She told me, before she left, that she and Draco may have," Pansy started, but didn't continue. She just started doing spells and flicking her wand around to clean up the mess.

"Oh," Hermione acknowledged the information, "Well then we have to notify him, but for now let's fix her."

Olivia panicked. She was pregnant and now she's not? She started to lose her grip on the sanity she was holding.

* * *

"Um, Malfoy, I think you want to come here and talk to Hermione," suggested Ron. Draco looked at him, rolled his eyes, and walked over to where Ron was holding a mirror with Hermione's face.

"Yes?" He asked.

"Malfoy, Olivia was pregnant. She just had a miscarriage in the hospital bed," Hermione sputtered in a shaken voice. Draco let go of the mirror, and Ron anticipating the move, just barely caught it.

"We need to go back home." Draco demanded. He didn't wait for Potter to object. He just apparated back to London. He needed to be with his friends, and he needed to be with Olivia. She was probably going insane in her own mind. Especially if she heard Hermione and Pansy say it.

Once back to his flat, he went to check on Blaise first.

"You're back early," Blaise observed. Draco noted that the mocha color to his skin had pretty much returned, and figured he could tell Blaise the problem, and he would come with.

"It's Olivia. Weasley said she had a miscarriage."

"Oh shite! I'm coming with you."

"I knew you would," answered Draco as they both Flooed to St. Mungo's.

Once there, Draco, ignoring the Healers that waved and said their hellos to him, went straight to Olivia's room. He opened the door with his wand. It was a protective thing that he had done to reassure her safety in the hospital.

"How is she?" He asked the moment he barged into the room.

Hermione gave him a run-down of Olivia's condition. Stating that she would be fine, it was minor blood loss, but it might not help her mental state. However, since Olivia couldn't communicate she couldn't be sure of the latter assessment. Draco sat next to Olivia's bed and stroked her pale arm. She once had a bit of a rosy color to her skin, but the curse was starting to drain on her body.

* * *

Harry waited until Malfoy got back to the Auror offices. He had heard what Hermione had said over the mirror, and he was livid. Draco Malfoy had shagged his ex-girlfriend! What kind of world was this turning into?

Draco could feel the anger coming from Potter before he even entered the main room of the Auror offices. He hoped that he didn't start something, because Draco was not in a mood to deal with him.

"You slept with her?" Potter asked in a tone that Draco recognized as superior.

"Yes, why, didn't you?" Draco asked trying to play along. He already knew the answer to this question. As a matter of a fact, the answer made him want to hex Potter even more.

"I did, but she was rubbish, but I'm sure you figured that out for yourself." Harry said snidely.

"Actually Potter, I believe we talked about how you were lousy," Draco said with a smirk. He knew he just goaded Potter into a duel. Without hesitation, Potter removed his wand from his side and shouted something at Draco. Draco instinctively knew what he would do and countered it silently before it came near him. "You know Potter, you really should get better at the silent thing."

Harry seethed. He pointed his wand and screamed another hex. Draco countered it instantly. The two of them continued for about twenty minutes, before Ron and Percy Weasley entered the room.

"What the bloody hell is going on?" Ron demanded.

"Malfoy started it," Harry practically whined.

"Oh, real mature Potter. Yes, being pissed that my girlfriend miscarried with my child because you're the almighty St. Potter, didn't start it at all," Draco mumbled.

"Enough! The both of you!" Percy bellowed. He couldn't be anymore disappointed in the two of them. However, knowing Harry since he was eleven, he knew it would eventually be like this. "That's it! Harry, you're off the LaMette case. Ron, you will continue to work with Malfoy on this. Harry, if you keep acting like this with Malfoy, then I'm going to have to suspend you."

Harry's jaw dropped. Why was he being punished? Malfoy was the ex-Death Eater. He wondered what was wrong with these people.

Draco merely nodded his head to Percy before leaving the offices. He didn't need to be there. Screw Potter and his overbearing ego. Had he been that arrogant? He probably had, but thank Merlin he had grown out of it, not into it.

* * *

Harry had been going over things in Olivia's file for hours. He was pissed that he was taken off of a case. He was bloody Harry Potter! He had a scar from the darkest wizard to ever be born. He wouldn't be off of a case unless he took himself off of it. He continued to read the file in front of him.

**Mother: Cadence Jolie LaMette, Blood Type: o+**

**Father: Reynaud Marcellus LaMette, Blood Type: AB+  
**

**Subject: Olivia Cadence LaMette, Blood Type: o+**

Something was wrong with the file. There was no way that Olivia could be an o blood type if her father was AB. Harry found what was going to get him back on the case. He ran to Percy Weasley's office.

He got there in a record time of ten minutes. He knocked on the door, he was out-of-breath. Percy opened the door and looked at him.

"Harry?"

"Percy, I just found something you should know," he said handing the page from the file to Percy. He read it and his eyes got wide when they got to the blood type section.

"I should be upset that you still were reading this after I took you off the case, but if you followed the rules, then you wouldn't be Harry Potter. Take this to Malfoy, and I'm telling you Harry, you start with him again and I will suspend you. He's in charge of this case."

Harry nodded. He would deal with Malfoy by gloating he found the detail. That wouldn't be a problem.

* * *

Draco was going over a map of places that the LaMettes had summer homes when Potter came up to his desk.

"To what do I owe the pleasure?" Draco asked in an annoyed tone.

"I think you would like to know that your girlfriend's file has something interesting in it," he answered tossing the folder on Draco's desk. Draco picked it up and began to read.

"Bugger! She isn't Reynaud's!" Draco exclaimed when he got to the blood types. He looked at Potter. "Well I'll be damned. I have to tell Hermione. It might help with her state."

"I'm coming with you." Harry stated matter-of-factly.

"Just don't get in my way."

* * *

Hermione was tinkering in the potions lab next to Olivia's room when Draco knocked hurriedly. She went to the door, and stared wide-eyed when Harry followed Draco and Ron into the room.

"Trust me, I feel the same way, but seeing as he was the one who found the information I'm about to give you, he got to come with," explained Draco. He gave Hermione the sheet and pointed to the blood types. She gasped.

"Malfoy, this could help if we knew who her actual father was, but without that information, we have nothing. I think I could make something with blood from her father that could save her, but we don't know who that is."

"No, we don't, but we will."


	7. Injured List and Penalty Boxes

_**Author's Note: I was going to avoid AN's in this fic, but I want to apologize for this being so late. Unfortunately, I was extremely sick and in the hospital at one point. Plus, I need to dedicate this chapter to a good friend. This chapter is dedicated to my artistic Muse, Listener. Thanks for all you do!**_

**Chapter Seven: Injured List and Penalty Boxes**

Olivia was crying. Well she would be if she was attached to her body, but because she was only in her mind, she was slipping. She was pregnant. She was pregnant with Draco's child, and she had lost it. She had lost a child. Olivia couldn't share her feelings about this revelation with anyone. She couldn't talk to anyone. It was making her feel worse. She knew she shouldn't feel that way because it would help her forget who she was and permanently stay in her mind if or when they ever took the curse off, but she still needed to feel that way. Olivia needed to feel as if she had lost something truly meaningful in life.

* * *

Hermione had suggested they go to Hogwarts and see if they could find information from McGonagall about the mystery around Olivia. Sitting in the Headmistress's office with her former school enemy, husband, and best friend, she looked to the older woman for answers.

"The only thing I can tell you is that the Headmaster was positive she would help bring peace to the school's houses. And, she did do that. Her best friend at this school was a Gryffindor. They were kindred spirits, Sofia and her. As a matter of a fact, when Olivia had lost her parents to Azkaban, Sofia's father would send lavish gifts to Olivia for Christmas. I guess it was his way of letting her know she still had family," McGonagall explained. She really couldn't give them much more than that.

"However, they could always ask me," a Dumbledore portrait said to the room.

"Well, yes, I suppose they could do that. I didn't know you would be in your portrait today, Headmaster." McGonagall greeted a slightly younger-looking Dumbledore.

"Forgive me Headmaster, I know I wasn't the kindest student, but I need to find out about Olivia. She is in terrible danger and we really don't know what to do," Draco confessed.

"You were forgiven long ago young Mister Malfoy. I knew there was good in you somewhere," he winked before continuing, "As for Olivia, it is funny that Headmistress McGonagall mentions her friend Sofia Griffin because it is Sofia Griffin who is young Olivia's half sister. Aindrias Griffin is the man that Cadence LaMette sought out for an affair a little more than twenty-four years ago. At the same time, he and his wife, Isibéal, were trying to have a child of their own. I don't pretend to know what made a man agree to an affair with a woman like Cadence LaMette, but I know he did, and had two daughters born within months of each other from two separate women."

The Headmistress's office was silent as each digested the new information internally.

"If Aindrias is Olivia's father, then why didn't he ask for Olivia to stay with them when her parents were sent to Azkaban?" Hermione asked.

"Miss Granger, or rather is it Mrs. Weasley now," he began to answer smiling, "Would you want to have to explain to your wife your sudden need to take in some child? I'm sure he just didn't want to have to explain to his wife."

"Oh, of course," mumbled Hermione. She thought about how dumb her question must have seemed.

"If this is true, then could there possibly be a way for something like this to remove her from the mind-locking curse?" Draco asked. He didn't care if he had to bring another man's affair to light to save Olivia.

"The Obfirmo Inmens has been used on Olivia?" The old headmaster asked as he touched his chin, staring out from the frame of the portrait.

"Yes, and she's been in it for over a month now. We don't know if we can do anything to get her out," Hermione explained. She looked at Harry who had sat quiet through the whole meeting. She realized that her friend had slipped away somewhere in the last ten years. The friend who modestly won tasks in the TriWizard Tournament and didn't even believe he was the most famous wizard there was. No, this friend was gone, and he was replaced by a man who had let fame blow up his ego. Hermione shook herself out of her thoughts, when she noticed the portrait of Dumbledore look between her and Harry and raise an eyebrow.

"There is a way to get someone out of a mind-locking curse besides having the person who said it say the counter-curse. The other way is to rebuild her memory starting with an Obliviate charm. It unlocks them from their mind, but this is a tricky procedure because you will need a Pensieve with all of Olivia's memories and a Regius Memoria potion. She'll need two to three days rest after the potion is given to her, but she will return to who she is. Beware that any stress in those few days will harm her. She will be regaining herself, and stress during that and she may permanently lose a chunk of her memory."

"Why is it that no one has heard of this before?" Harry asked.

"Harry, if all the dark wizards knew secrets like that, they'd find ways to destroy them," answered Dumbledore.

"Hermione, can you brew Regius Memoria?" Draco queried.

"I can, but you need family blood for that potion. Two drops of it, to be exact."

"You'll find Aindrias and Sofia in Romania. Isibéal passed away two years ago and the two were devastated. Since the information about Olivia being Aindrias's never came out, they were a happy family," Dumbledore told them.

"Then I'm going to Romania," stated Draco.

"I'm going with you." Harry said with little room for argument. Hermione looked as the two of them glared at each other.

"I'm coming too," she mentioned. If she didn't, then they were going to tear each other apart.

"Well hell, that means I'm going too. Maybe I can owl Charlie and spend time with him," Ron muttered. Hermione gave him an apologetic look. He understood her need to go. She was friends with Olivia and they had to keep their best mate from destroying their former school enemy. It had surprised Ron how easily Hermione had forgiven Malfoy. He had taken much longer to forgive him, but he had done it. Especially after watching change Pansy Parkinson, that was the moment Ron had pardoned Malfoy for his earlier transgressions.

"We'll leave tonight," Draco stated as he thanked McGonagall and the portrait of Dumbledore and left the castle slowly. He was lost in his thoughts. He understood now that Dumbledore put her in Slytherin for change. He remembered her as a small second year. She was small, but quick and smart. He remembered her bouncing into the Common Room with her blood-red hair pulled back, her Potions books always in hands. Draco had been struggling with his task of killing Dumbledore. It was one of the years that Draco wanted to forget, but he remembered the cheery Slytherin with a Gryffindor best friend. If people hadn't been so terrified of her family, then she would have been ridiculed by the older Slytherins. Instead, she promoted friendship with others to the younger years. They followed because there was something contagious about Olivia. It was one of the reasons Draco was going to Romania to fight with some man for two drops of his blood.

While Draco was thinking, Harry followed him out of the castle. There was no way he was letting Malfoy get the glory of saving someone. The only reason the blonde was considered a good guy now was because of him. He testified for Malfoy, why couldn't anyone remember that? It was aggravating how his best mates were rallying around his rival. Didn't they care that he was the one who defeated Voldemort? He had to go find Ginny. She knew how valuable he was. He strolled quickly past Malfoy, knocking into him.

Draco knew the bumping into was intentional and he muttered a "wanker" under his breath. If he could hex Potter he would. Unfortunately, it would be frowned upon.

* * *

Two Portkeys later, the four of them plus Ginny and Blaise were arriving in Romania. Charlie greeted his brother, sister, sister-in-law, and Harry enthusiastically. He gave two handshakes to the former Slytherins and offered his apologies to Draco about Olivia. Draco nodded and thanked the older Weasley. The Weasleys had forgiven Draco around the time Ron had. Draco had sent a long apologetic letter to their family and a small peace offering. He had let them keep the owl that he had sent the letter with. He had heard later, from Ron, that Mrs. Weasley sang Draco's praises whenever she read articles about him in the Daily Prophet. It made Draco think about who he once was, and how he would never want to go back to being that person.

"It turns out the Griffins live in the next village. You should be able to fly there and be back by nightfall," Charlie informed them.

Draco nodded and said to the group, "I'm going there now. I'm not waiting any longer to save Olivia."

* * *

Pansy sat in Olivia's room and watched as her vitals dropped. She quietly told the younger girl to keep fighting, Draco was going to find her father and get her out of this state. She knew that this drop in health meant that Olivia was slipping away. Pansy couldn't manage without Olivia in her life. She had grown accustom to her in the flat. She'd chat about trivial potion things at dinner. She'd tell jokes to Pansy and Theodore when he'd come over to see Pansy. She used Weasley products to entertain them. Pansy told her of all the fond memories. She hoped it would keep the girl sane long enough for Draco to do whatever he was doing.

* * *

It had taken an hour by broomstick to get to the village where the Griffins lived. It would have taken half-an-hour if Hermione hadn't spent thirty minutes in a sheer panic about being on a broom. Draco had grumbled about the set-back, but the newest problem had made him livid.

"I'm sorry, but I don't want to be reminded of that affair. And saving that girl, would do just that," Aindrias explained to them.

"So you're saying you would let her die because you don't want to be reminded of your faults? What a piece of work you are!" Draco yelled before storming out of the house. Blaise followed him. Hermione stayed and tried to reason with the man, but he wouldn't budge. She stalked off muttering something about being worse than a selfish Slytherin. Ron tried to calm her down. They all met outside the house near the three brooms (Hermione had ridden with Ron).

Draco was getting ready to mount his when a girl came out of the house running. He recognized her as the Gryffindor that Olivia ran around the castle corridors with during their Hogwarts years.

"I'm sorry. I would have been faster, but I wanted to make sure I got enough into this vial," she quickly explained. She handed him a small vial with a crimson liquid. He raised his eyebrows in question. "I'm her sister. My blood should work just as well. I now understand why my father wanted me to stop being friends with Olivia when we graduated. He blames my mother's death on his affair with her mother. She's still my best friend, and please send me word about her condition. I miss her."

"Of course and thank you. You don't know how much this means to me," he answered.

"I do. You love her. I can tell. You'll be happy together, but there is someone who wants to see you fail. Be wary of him." She advised before turning on her heel and running back to the house. Her long black hair bouncing on her shoulders as she did.

"What is it?" Ron asked as he came up to Draco.

"It's Sofia Griffin's blood."

"What good will that do?" Ron inquired further. He was having an obtuse moment. They were rarer these days being an Auror, but they still happened.

"Ronald, that means we can make the potion. Sofia shares blood with Olivia." Hermione explained.

"Oh, right," he mumbled. Hermione patted his shoulder. Sometimes he wasn't so brilliant.

* * *

Hermione had started to brew the potion as soon as they got back to England. She took her wand to Olivia's temple and created strands upon strands of memories in a Pensieve. Those memories were used in the second day of brewing the potion. They were poured in and the potion had turned a shiny blue color. She was worried about how long Olivia had been in her own head. She realized that the young girl had been locked in her own mind for almost two months. She hoped this was going to work. It seemed like some major damage could be done to Olivia if something went wrong. She did the final step of the potion, releasing two drops of Sofia's blood into the cauldron. The potion turned the correct shade of gold. Hermione smiled, satisfied at her work.

"Good work." Pansy commended as she looked between the picture in the Potions book and the cauldron.

"Yes it is, but now comes the worrisome part," she whispered as she pulled her wand from a narrow pocket in her periwinkle scrubs. She walked to Olivia's bed and prepared her wrist for the maneuver.

"Here goes nothing. Obliviate!" She shouted and light left emitted from her wand towards Olivia. Hermione silently counted thirty seconds before administering the potion to Olivia. Olivia's body convulsed violently as the book said it would, and then she went limp. Her body was no longer coiled. Instead, she would look completely lifeless if it weren't for the groans of pain coming from Olivia.

"Well at least she's making noise," Pansy offered as Hermione looked horrified. What did she just do to her friend? She went quickly back to the book. She read quickly, and found a passage that stated the person who drank it would suffer lots of pain as their memories rebuilt themselves in their head. Hermione sighed. At least it was supposed to happen, but it didn't make her feel any better about causing Olivia anymore pain.

"Yes, but I wish it didn't sound so painful."

"Well as Madam Pomfrey told us growing bones is nasty business, I'm sure re-building memories is just the same."

"I hope you're right."

"I do, too." A distinct sad-sounding drawl came from the behind them. "Is she supposed to sound that much in pain?"

"The book says so. However, I really feel awful that I'm causing her more pain, but I guess it's for the best," answered Hermione.

"I guess you're right. I just want this to work." Draco wished aloud as he approached the side of the hospital bed. Hermione nodded her head, gave a knowing look to Pansy, and the two stepped out of the room to give him time with her.

* * *

The next day, Draco couldn't concentrate in the offices. The other three men knew why. Ron and Blaise were sympathetic. Harry just stared daggers at the pale-haired man he was growing to hate all over again.

"Malfoy, if you're not going to concentrate then get the bloody hell out of here!" Harry shouted across the room at him. Draco glared back at him. Harry gave a cocky smirk. Blaise wanted to hex it off of his face. Ron just watched the room as he waited for a battle to begin.

"I'm fine Potter," he responded before going back to the paperwork he had in front of him. He held his emotions back. One of the few perks of being a Malfoy. You could be completely emotionless in ten seconds flat.

Harry knew he had gotten to Malfoy and to prove his point further he decided to leave for the day. Ron raised his eyebrows in question, but Harry just shook his head. No way was he going to tell his traitorous best mate where he was going.

He quietly apparated to St. Mungo's, and approached the area that Olivia's private room was located. Dumbledore's portrait had said that she needed two to three days of uninterrupted rest in order to regain herself. Harry wondered what would happen if he came to visit her. He used his wand to get through the wards Malfoy had around the place.

"What are you doing here Potter?" Pansy asked, venom seeping in her voice.

"Malfoy sent me over to check on her while he did some paperwork." Harry answered with just as much ice in his voice. She glared at him for a few more minutes before going about her work. She didn't want to leave the room, but she needed to go get more Calming Draught. Hermione had told her that the Potions book recommended it be used to ease the pain of memory building.

"Don't touch her or say anything to her. I have to go get more Calming Draught." Pansy commanded before leaving the room. Harry watched her go before approaching the hospital bed. He looked at Olivia as she writhed a bit in what he figured was pain.

"I'm sorry that Ginny is better than you are, but you should not be dating Malfoy. He's scum," Harry whispered just as the door opened and Hermione entered.

"Harry, what did you just do?" She whispered, ashamed of her best friend.

"I was just talking to her. I thought it would help the pain."

"You didn't," she gasped.

He nodded his head. He pretended not to have been warned by the pug before she left about this.

"Harry! You could have just done serious damage to her memory building!" Hermione scolded as she silently put him in a body-binding curse.

"What happened here?" Pansy asked as she re-entered the room with a goblet.

"Harry just said something to Olivia in this state."

"I just told him not to talk to or touch her!" Pansy panicked. She went over to Olivia with the Calming Draught. She forced the goblet to her lips. Olivia instantly calmed down, but only for a few moments. Hermione recognized that to mean her healing process had been tampered.

"Harry James Potter! Go home, right now, and I don't want to see you ever again!" Hermione screeched at him. She released him from the body-bind and he disapparated quickly. He may have just pushed too far.


	8. Back from Halftime

**Chapter Eight: Back from Halftime**

"Hermione? Where am I?" Olivia asked weakly. She didn't understand why she was in a hospital room and what was going on. The last thing she could remember was Harry breaking up with her in the Potions Department.

"Oh, Olivia, you're okay!" Pansy exclaimed as she came into the door, and went to hug her friend.

"Why wouldn't I be?" She asked Pansy.

"You don't remember why you're here? What's happened?" Hermione asked with a frown. Harry had caused quite a problem in Olivia's recovery and she'd lost a huge chunk of her memory. She couldn't remember anything since the break-up.

"No, the last thing I remember I was in the laboratory and Harry had just broken up with me."

"Oh, Draco isn't going to like this," mumbled Pansy.

"What, what does Draco have to do with this?" Olivia wondered aloud.

"Olivia, I'm going to show you something. I'm going to show you why you are here," explained Hermione as she took her wand to her own temple and pulled a silver thread from it. She placed it in the Pensieve that once held Olivia's own memories for the potion. She held the Pensieve up to Olivia. "Go ahead, look."

Olivia put her head down to the shiny liquid and proceeded to see Hermione's memory.

_Draco entered the LaMette Manor as if he owned it. He was there on official Ministry business, and it wasn't his fault if the escaped prisoners used a condemned house as their hideout. The moment he stepped out of the fireplace, he knew people were here. He could just feel it. Hermione, Ron, Harry, and Ginny stepped out of the fireplace after him. They were prepared to fight. Draco was prepared to rescue. They heard movement, and before them stood two dark-haired men armed with wands._

"_Well if it isn't Terrible and Torturing." Draco greeted Olivia's twin brothers coolly._

"_Look Armand, it's baby Malfoy. He's an Auror now too. Only makes sense for Lucius's son to become the epitome of everything the Dark Lord was against." Marcellus said as he took a step forward, but stopped and fell to the floor completely stiff. Draco looked at his fellow Aurors, and saw Ron wink._

"_Bloody hell! What did you do to my brother?!" He shouted. "Draco Malfoy you are a disgrace. You're the enemy. No one will align themselves with Harry Potter and live in my presence. Avada…" He never finished because he was Stupefied and put in the same body-bind curse that his brother was._

"_Thanks." Draco said._

"_You're welcome." Ron answered._

_In that moment, Reynaud LaMette appeared in the foyer. He assessed the situation._

"_What have you done to my sons?" He asked without any emotion in his voice._

"_Nothing they didn't deserve." Ginny smarted._

"_And nothing we won't do to you if you don't tell me where Olivia is." Draco said his voice thick with anger._

"_Oh, young Malfoy, taken with my daughter are you? Well then I'm sure you'll be happy to know she's in the dungeons. What you won't be happy to know is that she can't be saved if I am killed."_

"_What do you mean?" Hermione asked. Leave it to her to ask questions in a hostage situation._

"_I mean that I have given my daughter the mind-locking curse." He answered. Hermione gasped. Draco narrowed his eyes into steel slits._

"_Take her out of it. If you don't take her out of it, I swear you will regret the day you crossed me." He yelled at Mr. LaMette. The other four looked at Draco._

"_You don't scare me." Reynaud answered. "Cadence! We need to go now!" He screamed at no one, and apparated himself and his sons away. _

_He ran around the LaMette Manor looking for her._

Olivia gasped as soon as she came out of the Pensieve. She looked at Hermione confused.

"Show me everything or tell me everything. I don't care, but I want to know what the hell is going on in my life!" Olivia shouted in hysterics as tears started streaming down her cheeks. She started sobbing uncontrollably. Hermione and Pansy tried to calm her down, but it was useless. Olivia felt like she didn't know who she was.

"I can only show you the parts I know, and I'm sure that Pansy will show you what she knows, but there's certain parts that only Malfoy can show you. Do you want me to send him an owl or Floo him?" Hermione asked, trying to soothe her. Olivia's eyes were now puffy and red. Since she became so hysterical so quickly her deep red hair became quickly disheveled.

Olivia quickly shook her head and answered, "Not yet, I don't know what is going on right now."

Hermione nodded and began to help Olivia understand what had been going on in her life for the last three months or so.

* * *

Harry sat infuriated on his sofa and stared at Ginny. He was enraged with Hermione. How could she have dismissed him? He was Harry.

"I can't believe she didn't even want to see me for my birthday. And Ron, he's being such a wanker. He won't come see me because of something that was for Olivia's own good." He muttered angrily. Ginny winced a little at the mention of the younger redhead, but she soon forgot. Instead she wanted to make her fiancé better.

"Ignore them Harry. They've chosen their side. Unfortunately it's the same side as that slimy ferret, but that doesn't mean that you can't have fun with me," she suggested. He smiled at her. She really was perfect for him. She smiled back until she was startled by a loud crack in the fireplace and a woman's scolding voice.

"GINEVRA MOLLY WEASLEY AND HARRY JAMES POTTER, I WANT YOU AT THE BURROW THIS INSTANT! REALLY, YOU'D THINK I RAISED A BUNCH OF DEATH EATERS THE WAY YOU TWO ARE BEHAVING!" An enraged Molly Weasley yelled from the fireplace. Ginny was grateful that the couch faced away from it on the other side of the room. If her mother had seen the suggestion between the two of them, then they would be receiving an even longer lecture.

"Yes, Mum, we'll be there in just a few moments," Ginny answered. She lifted her self from the couch. Harry followed her immediately. He knew Molly Weasley was not one to mess with when she was angry. He'd rather deal with a dragon then her wrath.

Ginny took a bit of Floo powder, threw it in, and shouted her destination. Harry was right behind her. They stumbled out at the Burrow where two pairs of Weasley eyes were looking disappointedly at them.

Molly began the lecture, "I have never once been disappointed in you Harry until today. I can't believe you would destroy a helpless girl's recovery. I don't care if you don't approve of her with Draco Malfoy. You are not dating her, you are not her father, and you are not her older brother, you do not get to go around picking her suitor for her. Draco has been nothing but wonderful to this family for at least the last eight years. As for you Ginevra, I am sorely disappointed in the woman you turned out to be. You're jealous of someone who has been injured by her own family. I want you two to figure out that you have done wrong here. Until you do, I'm postponing the wedding." She folded her arms across her chest as a gesture to prove she meant what she said.

"But, Mum," Ginny instantly whined. If Molly was postponing the wedding that meant that it was not going to happen. It was supposed to be held in the Burrow's backyard much like Bill and Fleur's, but that looked to be impossible me.

"Don't but Mum me young lady. You find a way to put right what you two have done, and we'll start thinking about a wedding. I refuse to have you two getting married when you can't even act like adults," she responded.

Ginny knew that she couldn't argue with her mother like this. She looked at Harry and muttered something about this being all his fault and stomped upstairs to her childhood room as if she were eleven years old all over again. Harry just looked at the floor. He knew he had really done wrong if Molly Weasley was disappointed in him. As she had said, she never had been disappointed in him before this moment. He said a quiet, polite goodbye, and went back to his own home.

* * *

Sofia sat in her room in the house in Romania. She had just had another argument with her father. She wanted to see Olivia again. She told him how it didn't matter that he had an affair a long time ago. Isibéal had been dead for two years, and even if she were alive. She would have forgiven him his transgressions. Sofia was sure of it. It was her gift to know these things. She was perfect at Divination much like her mother.

Her argument with her father had been about her most recent vision. She had seen Olivia in trouble. Something had gone wrong with the potion they gave her. Sofia could help give her those memories back, but Aindrias told her not to go. Sofia thought for about five minutes before deciding she was returning to England.

She sent an owl to Draco Malfoy. She told him that she would be arriving at his flat in about two days to fix the problem with Olivia. She then turned into her Animagus form, a wolf, and left the house. It was the only way she could sneak past her father. She would head to the edge of the village before she would resort to broom for the rest of the trip.

* * *

Draco had received an owl from Sofia Griffin and immediately went to St. Mungo's. He had no idea what she had been talking about when she mentioned Olivia's poor recovery. Hermione had never mentioned it.

He entered Olivia's private room, and sitting on her bed looking even smaller than her five-foot-two stature, Olivia was peering into Pensieve. All three women looked up the moment the door clicked shut. Pansy's eyes grew wide, and Hermione looked guilty.

"Malfoy, what are you doing here?" She asked tentatively.

"I came to check on Olivia." He answered, and looked at the aforementioned woman. She stared back at him with confused eyes.

"Draco, can I talk to you in the next room?" Pansy asked as she tried to usher him out of the room quickly.

"What the bloody hell is going on? You tell a girl who barely knows her anymore that something's wrong, but you don't tell me? I thought we were best friends Pans. What's the matter with her? Why did she look at me like she had no idea why I was here?" Draco stumbled through questions.

"First, we didn't want to tell you what happened because you're going to kill Potter when we do. Second, what girl are you talking about? We haven't told anyone. Third, her recovery was compromised. Potter said something, we're not sure what, to her while she was sleeping, and she lost a good chunk of her memory. Which leads to the final question, she doesn't know why you're here because she doesn't remember anything after Potter broke up with her. So she doesn't remember why you would be here," she answered.

"She doesn't remember? Potter did this? That's it, I'm finding him right now and I'm going to make sure he doesn't live through that damn Unforgivable this time!" He bellowed as he started towards the door.

"Draco, you can't be rash! She's going to need you soon. We've been feeding her our memories, but you have the ones that are going to matter when it comes to you two."

"And you did tell someone else, or how would Sofia Griffin know what's going on with her and be here by tomorrow night?" He asked while handing Pansy the note he received from an owl today.

"You git! Don't you remember anything other than yourself? Sofia Griffin was gifted in Divination. She probably saw that there was trouble," Pansy responded with insult.

"Oh, well then, never mind that. Can I try and help her now?"

"I'd have to ask her. She's the reason we didn't owl you right away when she woke up. She was disturbed by everything. We were easing her into it."

"Well then, just tell her I love her. If she doesn't want to see me yet, then I don't want to make her," he replied dejectedly.

"Draco, I'm sorry," Pansy apologized as she took his hand in hers, "I promise the moment she's ready, and I will let you know. You know I wouldn't do anything to hurt you. I owe my life to you."

He nodded, and headed towards the door, but paused. He would have to leave through her door, and right now that would be too painful for both of them. Instead, he decided to disapparate back to his flat. Blaise was still there. It seemed as if he were never going to leave, not that Draco cared much. He was his best mate and was more than welcome to stay permanently in the guest bedroom.

"How's Olivia?"

"Awful because Potter went and buggered everything up!" Draco bellowed. He let all of the anger, anxiety, and everything else that was being held in, out. He was pissed, and there was nothing he could do about it. He could go kill Potter, but that would not end well. So instead he just sat there and yelled every swear that he knew in the middle of the flat's living room for twenty minutes with his best friend looking at him like he'd lost it.

"Better?"

"Actually, a bit, yes," Draco responded.

"So what did Potter do?"

"The bloody wanker went and said something to her while she was supposed to be recovering her memories!"

"St. Potter, savior of us all, destroys Olivia all over again. You would think he'd realize that is the opposite of saving her," Blaise joked to lighten the mood. It did work a little. Draco gave a small smirk before heading to the kitchen. He found where he kept a bottle of Firewhiskey and took a healthy swig. He replaced the cap on the bottle and put it back. He needed to calm down if he was going to be any use to Olivia at all.

"So what are we going to do?" Blaise asked as he eyed the bottle on the counter. He knew Draco barely drank the stuff, but definitely needed it when he did.

"We are going to wait until her half-sister gets here tomorrow and find out if she can do anything to help her," Draco explained.

* * *

Sofia had arrived at St. Mungo's at precisely nine o'clock in the evening like she had told Draco Malfoy she would. She entered the hospital and proceeded to a desk. She asked a sweet looking receptionist where she should meet Mr. Malfoy. The woman responded that he was already waiting in a room down the corridor and to the right. Sofia followed her directions, and met the man who was in love with her childhood best friend and recently discovered half-sister.

She approached the pale man slowly. He looked upset, and Sofia had never felt confident about confrontation, her courage had only spiked a little when she had Olivia beside her.

"Draco Malfoy, I'm here to fix the person that we both dearly love." She said so matter-of-factly you would have thought she hadn't been away from Olivia for more than two hours.

Draco led her into Olivia's room. Olivia screeched at the sight of her. It didn't matter how confused and hurt you were, when you're best friend shows up after four years of not being able to see her, you greet her with enthusiasm.

"Calm down. It can't be good for you to be that excited," Sofia warned. She started taking things out of a small bag she had to her side.

"What's all that for?"

"I'm here to fix you and to talk to you about some stuff." Sofia answered without much more explanation. Olivia was used to that. Sofia told you things on her own terms in her own time.

"Draco, I will need you to sit on the bed next to Olivia," Sofia began to direct as Olivia blushed, "Hermione and Pansy, I will need whatever you have left of her memories from the potion you used."

Hermione nodded and went to get a Pensieve from the other room. She came back within minutes with a small Pensieve with the leftover shiny memory liquid. Sofia took it and began to mix stuff into it. The liquid changed from silver to a metallic green color.

"Okay, I'm going to hold your right hand Olivia, and I want you to use your left hand to hold Draco's right hand. He'll then hold my hand and you'll drink this, okay? I'll try and see if I can reconnect the memories to you. Draco will pull us apart once he feels a bitter cold shiver. That means the process is done. Don't wait too long Draco, I could get stuck in her memories, and we'd have an even bigger problem." She instructed and both Olivia and Draco nodded. Hermione looked skeptically at the three of them. Divination was not something she could believe. There was no logic to it.

Pansy watched in awe as the three formed a small circle once Olivia had drank the liquid. She made a face like it was awful to taste, and then her eyes rolled into the back of her head and light formed around her. Draco looked over to her petrified, but he didn't release their circle. He waited for the shiver. Pansy knew the moment it happened when she saw his whole body shake. He quickly pulled the two girls' hands apart, and watched as Olivia regained consciousness.

Olivia felt all of it come rushing back to her as if the tide of the ocean had just overtaken her. She began to freak out as her mind started to connect the missing memories to the ones that were already there.

Draco just cuddled her into his side as she let out huge sobs of despair.

"We really made a child!" She wailed in between the tears. It took her about half-an-hour to cry herself out and fall asleep on the bed. Draco and Sofia were the only two that hadn't left the room by then. Once asleep they talked easy to one another.

"Are you going to tell her that you are her sister?" Draco inquired. If she was, he was worried it would hurt her more in this state.

"I'm going to, but not just yet. I know when it will be best to tell her without catapulting her further into emotional turmoil."

"Good," was all he answered as he lay down next to Olivia. Sofia said something about they both needed their rest and he could find her at the Leaky Cauldron before he, too, fell asleep.


	9. Three Strikes and You're out

_**AN: Sorry about the uber-late update, but the end of the semester was rough and then I went to China with one of my classes. But, enough of my excuses continue on with the reading. I apologize that this chapter is more about history than anything.**_

**Chapter Nine: Three Strikes and You're Out**

Draco woke up hours before Olivia. He was used to little amounts of sleep being an Auror. He watched her sleep peacefully. He relished in it, knowing that when she woke up the crying would start all over again. He brushed a deep red strand of hair out of her face. It made him think of the Tuesday morning he spent winning a bet with her. Her hair had been tousled then too. She stirred a little and one eye opened.

"Hey there beautiful," he whispered. She crawled closer to him on the hospital bed and just like that she remembered yesterday.

"Draco, it's all so awful. I just want to go back and have it not happen. I remember those moments locked in my head, and the fact that I killed a child."

"You didn't kill anything. Reynaud killed the baby," he started to explain. He refrained from saying 'our baby' because he knew it would set her off all over again, "And he tried to kill you which is why I'm going to be the one to kill him and your maniacal brothers."

"You can't go after them. They'll win. There might not be a Voldemort anymore, but my family is even more ruthless than yours. I can't stand to lose you, too," she whispered.

"You won't lose me. We'll send Potter in, no one needs him," he said to make her smile. It worked. She laughed and shook her head.

"No, that wouldn't be fair to everyone else. You know, the people who haven't figured out he's a big prat."

Draco chuckled. At least she was back to her light-hearted self.

There was a knock at the door, and Draco got up to answer it. He opened the door and was surprised to see Sofia up and with a cup of tea.

"Don't look at me like that Draco Malfoy. I like to get up early and I want to take my friend out to lunch," she said. Draco looked at her meaningfully. He wanted to know if she was going to tell her about being her half-sister. Sofia shook her head. "I just want to take her to lunch since she's feeling better. As her best friend from Hogwarts, I need to know how on earth she ended up with you!" Sofia joked.

"Lunch?" Olivia asked.

"Yes," Sofia answered as she grabbed Olivia's hand and led her towards the fireplaces to Floo somewhere unknown to Olivia.

* * *

They arrived at a small deli restaurant in Hogsmeade. Olivia smiled. It was the small restaurant that she and Sofia found their fourth year at Hogwarts after the war was over. Every weekend trip found the two of them sitting here for lunch talking about where they thought they were headed next.

"You remembered?" Olivia asked.

"Hey, this is our place to ask questions. We couldn't go anywhere else for this talk," she explained.

They found their special table in the back of the biggest room. They sat down in the same seats they usually inhabited, and Sofia began.

"I'm so sorry I haven't been around the last two years, but Dad has been inconsolable over the last two years without Mum," she said.

"Don't worry. You're here now," Olivia dismissed quickly.

"Okay, so now I have to get to the point. Draco Malfoy? Not that I'm not appreciating his good looks and his obvious adoration of you, but where did it come from?"

"I have no idea. I was dating Harry Potter," she began.

"Wait, you dated Harry Potter, too?!"

"Yeah, that didn't work out so great. He's meant to be with Ginny Weasley. Don't even worry about that. I'll let you look at those memories later."

"What memories am I looking at today then?" Sofia asked.

"I don't know. I'm just saying I really don't want to go into the Harry stuff right now. I'm still trying to grasp the concept of Draco Malfoy being in love with me"

"Okay, well how about we go through those memories we went through when you were twelve and you had that crazy crush on Draco Malfoy and how you knew he would never like you. Well we should revisit those so that you have a better idea of why the Prince of Slytherins is in love with you."

"Like those memories of first meeting him and stuff? Weren't those enough torture then? Remembering how much he hasn't liked me most of my life is not going to help me believe he loves me now."

Sofia just smiled at Olivia knowingly and held out her palms. Olivia just complied with her best friend's wishes and both were thrown into a world of the past.

_Olivia was seven and it was Draco Malfoy's eleventh birthday. His father was throwing a gala birthday for him since this marked Draco's entrance to Hogwarts. She didn't know where his mother was. She was a very important pureblooded woman and there was no need for her at her son's birthday party. Olivia knew all these things at seven because she had grown up in the same world he had. His birthday had required her to wear a ball gown and be the proper daughter of a respected pureblooded family. Olivia walked into the Malfoy Ballroom as a house elf announced her. She waited a minute, walked forward, curtsied, and hurriedly moved to the back of the ballroom. She could feel her father's disapproving stare with every quickened step she took. She sat in the back of the room as Astoria Greengrass was being presented next. She was a charming nine-year-old in a sapphire ball gown. Olivia stared at her as she strutted like she owned the ballroom. How did they do it? How did they get away with acting like they owned everything? She knew she was supposed to be the same way, but she could never muster it. The next girl to be announced was Astoria's older sister, Daphne. Soon she was followed by many others. Olivia wasn't surprised to see girls here even younger than her. It was typical that girls were always at big birthday events for pureblooded wizards. It was how the arranged marriages were planned. It didn't matter how much younger someone was, if it was planned, it was planned._

_An hour passed before Draco Malfoy was announced for his own party. He strutted out into the middle of the ballroom in dress robes with slicked-back flaxen hair. He gave everyone in the room a smirk and a nod and headed towards his father's right side. Olivia was standing close to the wall where his father was and he stared at her. She squirmed underneath his gaze. It was like he was telling her she wasn't good enough to be at his party silently._

"Thanks for that painful revisit, what now?" Olivia asked.

"Were you paying any attention at all? He was confused. You looked different from every other girl there. You were self-conscious, sweet. Draco Malfoy was not used to those things. He still probably isn't," Sophia mentioned. "Now we're going to continue onward. I'm going to prove to you that Draco Malfoy has always wanted to be with you, even unbeknownst to him."

Olivia shook her head as Sofia returned her palms to the outstretched position in front of her. Sofia made a motion with them that told Olivia that she was required to reciprocate. She did unhappily.

_Cadence had brought Olivia to Malfoy Manor with her for an afternoon party. Olivia had been dressed in her best dress to impress Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy. Supposedly the party was meant to be a pre-determining of who was to wed their son, Draco. Olivia sat there bored out of her mind. She didn't know why she was here. No one would ever pick her. They knew of her sweet non-Death Eater-like demeanor. The Malfoys would never allow their son to marry someone so weak._

"_Olivia, come here!" Her mother harshly whispered from a room down a long corridor in the Manor. Olivia trudged down the corridor in her corseted lilac dress. It touched the floor as she walked and her mother had made her wear her hair down._

_She entered the ballroom and noticed that there were many other girls there. Most of them were dressed in greens and silvers. She guessed it was a tribute to Draco Malfoy's house colors to impress him._

"_Olivia, I want you to meet Mrs. Malfoy," Cadence introduced her to Narcissa. Narcissa looked down her angular nose at Olivia. Her wheat-colored hair graced just below her shoulders. She was wearing an olive green ball gown._

"_A little young for our Draco, don't you agree Cadence?" Lucius Malfoy's drawl could be heard asking Olivia's mother. He really could care less about her age. There were other younger girls in attendance, but the LaMette girl was despicable._

"_She is younger than he, but not by much," Cadence tried. She was trying to get rid of her nuisance._

_Olivia barely listened as the adults talked about her right there. Instead she watched as the previously mentioned boy walked into the room. He was followed by a dark-skinned boy, most likely Blaise Zabini, and they both sat in the middle and she watched as every girl there flocked to them. They were all girls she recognized from parties at her own home. Pansy Parkinson was there in a scandalous green dress for a fourteen-year-old, Daphne and Astoria Greengrass were there as well. They were, also, dressed inappropriately for their ages._

"_You know, you could go talk to him," Narcissa's icy voice came from behind her as she placed a cool hand on Olivia's shoulder. Olivia shivered from both the speech and the contact._

_Olivia shook her head and proceeded to the back of the ballroom._

"Okay well that memory is more about his mother. And she was approving of you at that moment. She knew what the life Lucius wanted him to live would do to him. She was hoping that he would pick you and change him before the inevitable war happened," Sofia said wisely. Olivia shook her head. She would never believe that Narcissa Malfoy would choose her over the other girls in the room.

"Why are we doing this again?"

"I'm figuring you and Draco Malfoy out. Now shut up and let me do my work." Sofia joked lightly.

_Olivia was holding Sofia's hand as they were approaching the front of the Great Hall at Hogwarts._

"_Do you know how they sort you?" Sofia whispered._

_Olivia nodded her head and provided Sofia with an answer, "My brothers say there's a hat." Olivia knew that wasn't a big lie, because that was the first way she learned about the Sorting Hat, but she felt bad lying a little bit to this girl she'd just met on the train. The other reason she knew about the Hat was because Dumbledore had requested to see her as soon as they left the train. He had told her that the hat was going to put her in Slytherin to make sure no one ever knew that she wasn't Reynaud LaMette's daughter._

"_A hat?" Sofia asked skeptically._

"_Yeah, a hat, they put a hat on you and it decides where you go." She whispered in answer as she saw Professor McGonagall look over at her pointedly._

"_Sofia Griffin!" McGonagall called out. Sofia walked sheepishly up to the front of the room and sat on the stool. McGonagall placed the hat on her head, and after about three minutes it told the room Gryffindor. The Gryffindor table shouted and welcomed their newest member. The rest of the list got shorter before it came time for Olivia to make her way forward. She quietly stepped up to the stool. She looked out into the room and saw the Slytherin table. It was where she was destined to be for the next seven years of her life. It was weird, but she was absolutely certain that Draco Malfoy was staring at her. The hat didn't even reach her head when it said Slytherin. Olivia watched as Draco Malfoy clapped extremely hard._

_She left the front of the room and headed slowly to the Slytherin table. She looked over at Sofia and smiled. This is what she was afraid of, losing a friend because of this house. She sat down at the end of the table, and Draco approached her with Blaise, Pansy, Crabbe, and Goyle in tow._

"_LaMette, welcome to Slytherin!" Pansy shouted with a bit of an arrogant, watch-your-step tone._

"_Thank you," she answered sweetly before returning to look at the table in front of her. She could feel eyes still on her and she got visibly tense. She couldn't figure out why Draco Malfoy was still staring at her blankly._

"Get it yet?"

"Alright. You win. There's always been something between us. That doesn't change the fact that my brothers tried to hurt his best mate, I killed our baby, and Harry Potter is making everything difficult," Olivia said exasperated.

Sofia smiled. Her friend had become fearful over the two years she hadn't seen her. "You'll be fine. Trust me, when have I ever let you down before?"

"Never."

"Okay, well then, when I say you're going to be okay. I mean you are going to be okay."

* * *

Harry was sitting in his flat trying to figure out how to set things right for Mrs. Weasley when he suddenly realized that the only reason she found out was because of Hermione and Ron. Feeling betrayed, he set out to find Olivia for ruining his wedding with Ginny. Why should he have to wait to marry the woman he's always loved because of some lousy Slytherin? He couldn't find a reason suitable. So the first thing he did was apparate to the hospital. Once there, he found Hermione in the room that was once Olivia's private.

"Where's Olivia?" He asked confused. Shouldn't she still be here?

"She's gone to lunch with her friend. She's fine now, no thanks to you." Hermione scolded before leaving the room.

"I'm sorry Hermione. I was just out to apologize to her. Do you know where they went?"

"Sofia told me she wanted to take them somewhere in Hogsmeade," she answered. She wanted Harry to right his wrongs.

Harry was almost guilty when he saw the hopeful look on Hermione's face. He knew it was the look that she wanted him to be a better person. Instead, he was going to go stir more trouble between himself and her.

* * *

Sofia and Olivia left the deli a good two hours after they finished eating. They were enjoying the memory lane…literally. Sofia tensed up as soon as they hit the main street in Hogsmeade. Olivia noticed and looked to where Sofia was glaring. Harry stood there glaring back at both of them.

"Harry Potter, what do you want? Haven't you caused her enough trouble?" Sofia asked, the malice dripping in her voice.

"This is between her and me," was all he said. Sofia didn't want to leave Olivia's side.

"I'm not leaving Harry." Sofia spouted determined.

"Well then I won't make it a choice for you," he answered grabbing Olivia's wrist and apparating with her. Sofia made a soft squeal of protest, but they were already gone. Instead of sitting there helplessly, she went to find Hermione or Draco.

Harry had apparated them to his flat. Olivia recognized it immediately. She looked around at all the charmed photos of Hermione, Ron, and him that she had seen a dozen times in the eleven months she dated him.

"You have caused me so much grief you know that?" He asked her as he shoved her towards the couch. She shook nervously. She didn't like the way he was looking at her. He was crazed. She was pretty sure he was going to kill her.

"I don't know how. I was just moving on with my life and you kept obsessing over me," Olivia mumbled. Unfortunately, Harry heard her and yelled a good "Stupefy!" at her. He watched as she flew across his living room into the back wall. She felt sick. She had hit her back hard on the wall. Harry laughed maniacally. Olivia was pretty sure that he had officially lost his mind. All that childhood attention had finally drove him off the edge.

"You don't move onto Death Eaters when you're done dating me. You go onto someone respectable. Merlin, Olivia! Why Malfoy?" He asked, "I just don't understand. He is the foulest one out there!"

"Actually, my family is the foulest out there since the Malfoy family went all out for themselves in that final battle," she answered knowing she was inciting his anger further.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" He said as he lifted her and then with a quick flick of his wrist, she fell and you could hear the snap in her leg the moment it happened.

She cried out, but didn't tear her infuriated stare from him. She didn't grow up in her family to be a coward now.

"You should have been a Gryffindor, you're too damn brave for your own good," he mocked as he lifted his hand to strike her. She flinched as she waited for the connection of it with her face, but that connection never came.

"Harry?" Ginny weakly asked. If she hadn't been so close, Olivia wouldn't have believed Ginny had said anything at all.

"Ginny, what are you doing here?" He inquired.

"I can't believe you're doing this. I need to go get Hermione!" She screeched as she left through the fireplace. Harry thought for a moment and re-raised his hand. Olivia cringed again, but for a second time there never was contact. She looked up to see why, and found that Draco had his arm behind his back.

"Let go Malfoy! You can be fired for this!"

"Actually he can't," Hermione started, "because I will be reporting in full to Percy that you have lost it."

"And I will be seconding that." Ron muttered. He would feel that he was betraying his best mate, if it weren't for Olivia sitting battered in the back of the room like a rag doll.

"There's no need. I am already here, and Harry you're suspended indefinitely with a recommendation for emotional therapy," Percy sentenced. He looked at his baby sister's choice of husband closely before finishing, "You were a good man once Harry. You really need to find that man again and maybe then this can all go away and you can be the husband you want to be to my little sister."

Ginny sniffled. Percy had never stood up for her. She confessed, "Don't protect me Percy, I've been just as awful to her."

"You had, but you stopped when your mother pointed out that it was wrong." Sofia answered, making all of them jump.

Ginny nodded. She had really listened to what her mother said, and realized she was absolutely right. At that moment, a small pop could be heard in Harry's kitchen. Pansy looked at them, walked straight to Olivia, and helped her up. Draco came to Olivia's other side to give her some balance. They walked to the fireplace that the others had come through and as she passed Harry, Pansy couldn't help but add, "I hope you are proud of who you are. I may have once been a supporter of Voldemort, but nothing puts me to shame more than seeing you as a fallen hero."

The rest watched as the raven-haired witch escorted Olivia into the fireplace and called out the private room at St. Mungo's.

"I have to go!" Ginny sobbed before disapparating somewhere unknown to them.

* * *

Hours later, Olivia was asleep in Draco's bed recuperating from Pansy's excellent healing skills.

"What would we do without you Pans?" He asked sincerely.

"I haven't the faintest clue," she replied smiling. She gave him a hug and a small kiss on the cheek and then headed to Sofia. "You are a good soul and I'm glad you're back in her life, even if that means I no longer get to be her best friend."

"You'll always be just as good of a best friend to her as I will," Sofia managed to mumble in the hug. She really didn't like how much affection this group had. You would think for a bunch of Slytherins they'd be less mushy.


	10. How Many People Are Playing this Game?

**Chapter Ten: How Many People Are Playing this Game?!**

_Olivia stood in front of a full-length mirror in Sofia's dorm. The other Gryffindor girls in their year used to complain about this, but it's been years since the first time, and they actually had befriended Olivia, too. They were getting ready for the Halloween Ball their fifth year, Sofia was going with a Ravenclaw boy a year older than them, and Olivia would be attending with her boyfriend for the last year and a half, Carver Lexington. Olivia had a floor-length, A-line lilac dress that had spaghetti straps and a top that was corset-like. Sofia was standing in a crimson and black princess dress. The top was a corset with chunky straps that had a very full skirt. Both girls giggled and hugged once they were completely finished. They had been so excited to go to this dance. The two of them left the Gryffindor Common Room and descended down the shifting staircases to the Great Hall. Eric and Carver were waiting for them right in front of the doors. Each approached the arms of their date, and the four of them entered. It was funny how both girls could be the center of attention to their dates, but always be with one another too._

Hermione had popped into Draco's penthouse-type flat to check up on Olivia and couldn't help but silently giggle at the sight in front of her. Sofia and Olivia were curled up in Draco's king-size bed, Draco was on a cot next to the side of the bed Olivia was on holding her hand, Pansy lay snuggled with Theodore Nott on a couch in the corner, and Blaise was still asleep in the guest room. If she hadn't felt the new wards placed on his home, she would have assumed all this was to protect Olivia. Instead, she figured they were just so tired last night after taking care of Olivia that they just crashed where they were. She watched as smiles and facial expressions went across Sofia and Olivia's faces. She assumed with Sofia's Divination talent, that they were sharing a dream of some sort. However, she wouldn't know this for sure since it was such a sketchy art, but getting more and more believable with Sofia around.

"Weasley?" Draco croaked in his half-awake, half-asleep state.

"Yes, I've come to check on Olivia, but can see that she is well taken care of here," she explained. She smiled as Sofia, Olivia, and Pansy all woke up at precisely the same moment. Hermione gave a small wave as if to say good morning.

"Good morning Hermione." The three of them greeted all together. They giggled a little at their moment of jinx. Hermione laughed with them. She was glad to see Olivia better after yesterday's Harry run-in.

"Good morning everyone, I see we're all better today."

"Yes, you know that I'm terrible at combat and defense, but Healing Potions…my specialty!"

"Too true. Well it seems you guys need to finish having your Slytherin sleepover," she told them as she got ready to leave.

"Hey!" Sofia shouted from her place on the left side of the bed.

"Okay, Slytherin plus one sleepover," Hermione corrected, and then disapparated.

"I thought you put new wards up?" Pansy asked Draco.

"I did, but not against her," he answered. He didn't see a reason to block out the Weasleys. He just didn't want Potter near Olivia until he was done working through his crap. Egotistical prat that Potter happened to be, he needed to get over that crap. He couldn't believe that Potter had even done what he did yesterday if he hadn't seen it with his own eyes.

"Yes, there's really no reason to keep Hermione out," Sofia agreed with him. She pulled the covers off of herself and threw them onto Olivia.

"Hey!" Olivia shouted as she threw the black silk covers onto the floor.

"Watch it! Those cost at least a hundred galleons!" Draco whined a bit. It wasn't new to any of the Slytherins that he would be upset about something so small, Sofia just looked shocked.

"It's nothing new Sofia; he's still got spoiled brat problems. That hasn't changed," Blaise muttered as he entered the overly-crowded master bedroom. Sofia giggled at Blaise's comment.

"Well Olivia, I'm off to the Ministry. Percy wants to talk to me about something. He talked to me after you fell asleep yesterday," Sofia said as she gave Olivia a hug.

"You don't have any other clothes here."

"No, I'm going to go change at my family's old townhouse and then head out to the Ministry," she replied before disapparating.

"Well if she's off, then we should probably go too." Pansy said giving Olivia a hug and then taking Theo's hand to disapparate.

"So Olivia, how you feeling?" Blaise asked.

"I'm much better, thanks Blaise. We're okay, right? You're not mad about Draco?" She asked.

"If he was mad at me, then he wouldn't be staying permanently in my guest bedroom," Draco mumbled.

"Don't listen to him. He would have given me somewhere to stay even if I killed his puppy. But, we are fine. You guys are good together," he explained giving her a pat on the head, "and now I'm going to get out of here. I still have a job to go to."

"Yeah, you still have your own home too," Draco muttered some more. Not that he really minded Blaise's permanent residence; he just liked to give him a hard time.

"But your place has better décor," he answered Draco's grumbles, "and don't you have a job, too?"

"I do, but Minister Weasley has graciously given me a week of vacation. And I'm going to take that week to make sure that my girlfriend is spoiled," he answered with a smirk. Olivia squealed at the idea.

"You know the numbers. I'll just have the hotel put it on your tab," Blaise replied with a smile as he left them to their own devices.

"You have a tab at Blaise's hotel?" She asked, curiously.

"Don't get like that, I know what you're thinking, and it's not that. Sometimes, right after my mum went into the hospital, I just needed somewhere else to go," he explained, and she immediately felt horrible for saying it. "No need to feel bad. Look I've gone and ruined that smile you were wearing. I'm fine now. It was years ago."

She smiled up at him. He gave her a lazy grin and began packing some stuff for a week-long stay at Chateau Zabini.

* * *

"I'd like to have you trained as an Auror," Percy Weasley suggested with authority.

"I won't be able to save everyone just because I have visions, especially if I'm not connected with them. That's how I didn't know about Harry. I had been disconnected from Olivia for a couple of years. I didn't know she had dated Harry. I knew something bad was going to happen between them, but I couldn't understand why," Sofia explained to him. She didn't want him to get attached to the idea of her saving everyone just because she could occasionally have visions.

"I'm not saying you will save everyone. I'm saying that you would be a great addition to the Aurors we have around here. Your skills outdo most of them already."

"Don't let Harry hear you saying that."

"Harry is being dealt with. I think he's finally figured out that something was not right with what he was doing and who he was becoming."

"I have to think about it Percy," she finally stated. If she was going to continue to live in England with her friends, then she was going to need a job. Getting handed one wouldn't be such a bad idea.

* * *

Draco and Olivia had barely been in the hotel for an hour before he started checking her over to make sure she was healing. It had started to drive Olivia nutters. She didn't want him to be continually checking her over as if she were his child. She just wanted to spend a nice week with him forgetting all the troubles of the recent past.

"Draco, for the millionth time, I am fine. I thought we were here to have a vacation. I can't very well have a vacation if you keep checking on me like a mother-hen." Olivia scolded. He nodded and she continued, "Plus if I remember correctly, some time ago you won a bet, and I think I'd like to challenge you to a rematch." He gave her a smirk, and they spent the hours before dinner returning to that state of new relationship bliss.

* * *

At six o'clock that evening, Carver Lexington was having dinner with his father, Archibald Lexington, at the hotel restaurant. He had dark brown hair, brown eyes, and a perfectly aristocratic, chiseled face. His father was rattling on about the business when he saw Olivia LaMette in a silver cocktail dress walk into the dining room. It was a petticoat, halter, knee-length dress that made her eyes and hair more vibrant.

"Carver, my boy, what are you staring…" Archibald's voice stopped when he realized his son was staring at Olivia LaMette. "Oh, it's Olivia; shall we call her over here? She seems to be alone."

As if those words were the ones that triggered his appearance, Draco came up beside Olivia to escort her into the restaurant. Carver watched as the former Slytherin Prince elegantly hooked his arm with Olivia's.

"Olivia!" His father called from next to him. He shook his head. That's exactly what he wanted to dine with his ex-girlfriend from Hogwarts and her latest squeeze.

Olivia looked around for the person calling out her name, and noticed a graying man at a corner table with a younger brunette, and she tensed.

"Who is it Livi?" Draco asked. He could feel her tension and he would do anything to make it go away.

"It's Mr. Lexington…and Carver," she whispered in defeat. She glided gracefully to their table. Archibald rose to give her a hug. "Mr. Lexington, Carver," she greeted sweetly. Draco could see how much it was killing her to be nice to the latter. She was merely doing it for appearance sake.

"Olivia, it's so good to see you. Is this young Mr. Malfoy?" Archibald asked politely. He had heard that Draco was not an enemy during the war, and respected the young man to go against his upbringing like that.

"Not so young anymore, sir," Draco answered. He shook Mr. Lexington's hand and watched as Carver glared at him.

"Draco, this is Carver Lexington. He's a boyfriend from Hogwarts past," she said with a small, nervous laugh. Draco held out his hand as if daring the other man to shake it. Carver took it in his and they did a quick shake before dropping their hands.

"So Cady, what brings you here?" Carver asked using his own nickname for Olivia from her middle name.

"This is Draco's best friend's hotel. He's been gracious enough to let us stay for a week." Olivia answered without missing a beat. Draco arched an eyebrow at her and she shook her head as if to say she'd tell him about it later.

"Well, I insist that you two join us for dinner." Archibald cut in; he felt that some good hospitality would help ease the tension. Unfortunately, that was the last thing it would do. Olivia nodded and Draco pulled out a chair for her. She sat down, and watched as Draco sat to her right. She felt as if she were in the middle of an awkward sandwich, her ex-boyfriend on the left, her current boyfriend on the right.

"So, Malfoy, what is it you do now?" Carver asked. He was prying. He couldn't believe how stunning the woman before him grew up to be. He was jealous that she was holding Malfoy's hand. Why couldn't that be him?

"I'm an Auror. I'm generally at the Ministry seven days a week, but because of some personal issues with another Auror who lacked professionalism, the Minister gave me a week off." Draco answered matter-of-factly. "What is it that you do?"

"Oh, I'm in the family business. I give estimates for artifacts and old wizarding antiques and then hold auctions every once in awhile."

Draco bit back a snort. He couldn't believe the boring job this guy had. Hopefully he was more fun back in school. He had to have been a little bit to have been placed in Slytherin.

"I thought you weren't ever going into the family business? I thought you wanted to be an archaeologist?" Olivia asked. She gave Carver a sly smile.

"You wanted to be an archaeologist?" Archibald asked incredulously. He could not believe his oldest heir would want to do such a thing.

"It was a kid's dream, Father. Obviously, I am over it," answered Carver. He gave Olivia a contemptuous glance. She smiled back at him. Draco gripped the table in an upset manner. This man was flirting with his girlfriend right in front of him.

"Can I get you something to drink?" A waiter asked Draco and Olivia.

"I'm not sure about Mr. Malfoy, but I know that she'll love some berry wine." Carver answered for Olivia. She wanted to give him a good smack, but instead nodded to the waiter.

"I'd like a Butterbeer, please," ordered Draco. The waiter nodded and headed to the back of the restaurant.

"So, how did you two meet?" Carver asked Olivia and Draco. Draco shook his head at the stupidity of this guy.

"We met when she was seven at my birthday party," he gave a clipped answer. Draco's patience was starting to decrease.

"Oh, well how long have you two been dating?"

"A few months," Olivia answered because she knew Draco was getting upset with Carver.

* * *

Sofia had gotten her note from Olivia when she got home from talking to Percy. It had said that she was going to spend a week with Draco at Blaise's hotel, but that she was welcome to stay in Draco's place with Blaise. Sofia figured it would be better than staying in the townhome all by herself, and decided to go back to Draco's.

Blaise was startled by a distinct popping noise because he was expecting to be alone for the week.

"Sorry, didn't mean to frighten you. It's just Draco and Olivia said I could stay here while they were gone. I didn't want to be alone," she apologized.

"No, it's fine. I just thought no one else would be showing."

She gave him a small nod and started to leave the room, when he caught her arm. She glanced up at him curious to know why he had grasped her lightly.

"I was getting ready to make supper, are you hungry?"

"Yes," she answered before following him to Draco's kitchen.

* * *

It had turned into a game for Carver. He wanted to find out where they were in the hotel at every moment, and try hard to sabotage it. Right now he was being bold enough to knock on their door while they were enjoying privacy.

"What the bloody hell? Can't you read the sign on the door? It says do not disturb!" A very familiar male voice said from the other side of the door. Carver chuckled at the irate Draco Malfoy, and knocked once more.

The door flew open quickly, and Carver suppressed a laugh as Draco stood there in a pair of black pajama pants and bare chest glaring at him.

"I just wanted to know if you would like to play some Quidditch later today?" Carver asked trying to be innocent.

"Quidditch? I love Quidditch!" He heard Olivia practically screech from somewhere within the Malfoy suite.

"I guess you have your answer Lexington," the blonde said before slamming the door in his face. He laughed. Maybe winning her back wouldn't be as hard as he thought.

Draco turned back to look at Olivia lying like a tiny queen on a sea of a bed. The green Egyptian cotton sheets made her look even more beautiful with her green eyes and dark red hair. Draco couldn't believe he was lucky enough to be sharing this time with her.

"I didn't know you liked to play Quidditch," he said to her after crawling back into the bed.

"Of course I do, I made the House team. I was Seeker the year after you left." She stated proudly.

He gave her a smirk, "Is that so?"

She smirked back before giving him a kiss.

* * *

Draco and Olivia had Flooed Ron, Blaise, Theodore, George, and Angelina for the match. Pansy, Sofia, and Hermione had come along to cheer on the weird team. They were an odd mix of former Gryffindors and Slytherins. Hermione had bewitched their gear to be silver and gold after stating that using the other two house colors would make it look like Christmas. Once they reached the Quidditch Pitch on a back field behind Blaise's hotel, they met up with Carver and his team. All of them were former Slytherins from his year or one year younger.

"Well this works out well. We have an extra Keeper and you have an extra Seeker. How about a trade?" Carver asked slyly. Draco wanted to snarl knowing where this was leading. "I'll give you my sister, CiCi, if you give me Cady."

Draco cringed at the nickname for Olivia. Something about it made him want to snap Carver's neck or at least hex him into next week.

"Sure, that seems fair. CiCi was a great Keeper; we won the Quidditch Cup with her my sixth year." Olivia answered before Draco drew wands and killed someone. He looked at her in bewilderment, but nodded that she could head over to Carver's team. She used her wand to change the colors of her uniform to match those of the team she was joining. Draco watched as Olivia's gear went from silver and gold to black and white.

"Mione, want to be referee?" Draco could hear Ron asking his wife. He looked over to see the brunette nod at her husband, and he moseyed over to his team. CiCi joined them and changed her uniforms just as Olivia did.

"He's doing this to get a rise out of you, ye know?" The young blonde asked Draco. He nodded. "They dated from her fourth year until she graduated. He was awful to her. I assume it's most likely because she wasn't really ordinary back then, but she wasn't as stunning as she is now either. That's the only reason that I can find for him to be behaving this way." CiCi explained before putting the Keeper's helmet over her honey-blonde hair and heading to the goal posts.

Hermione let the balls free before heading to the highest box to make sure nothing foul happens. She applied a charm to her voice so that she could commentate let alone referee. This way the players would know when she was making a call along with giving the others a better idea of the action. She watched as Ron flew next to his brother. It was an unspoken thing between the youngest Weasley boy and the remaining twin that whenever they played together they were Beaters together. She remembered in school that Ron was a Keeper, but since the loss of Fred, whenever the Weasleys played Ron became a Beater.

The game began and the other girls became instantly bored the moment Hermione started her announcing because instead of talking about plays and such, she was giving them the history of the Quaffle and Bludgers. Sofia, not wanting to be rude, joined Hermione in the top box along with Pansy.

"Hermione, you're boring us to tears, and probably distracting them with all your history nonsense. So how about you just worry about calling a fair game and we'll watch from up here with no announcing," Pansy said trying to be delicate to not hurt Hermione's feelings. Hermione just nodded and watched quietly as her friends and husband played against new foes. She wasn't stupid. She had noticed the way Draco and this new man, Carver, were salivating for Olivia.

Hermione leaned over to Pansy and asked, "So who is he?"

Pansy without tearing her eyes from Theodore as a Chaser responded, "He's Carver Lexington. He's a prominent wizard artifact inspector. He was in Slytherin, two years younger than us, and he dated Olivia for three years. She told me he was awful to her for most of it."

Hermione nodded her head. Well that explained a lot. She looked back up at the action in the sky. Draco and Olivia were keeping their eyes open for the Snitch, while Carver and his fellow Beater tried to bat at the Bludgers. Ron and George were trying hard to keep the Bludgers from him. They both knew that if a Bludger got into Carver's way it was headed straight for Draco. Angelina, Theodore, and Blaise flew in a weird pattern throwing the Quaffle back and forth to one another. They headed towards the goal posts where a rather large man was Keeper. Pansy and Sofia were shouting for the three of them to make it past the Keeper. Angelina and Theodore distracted him while Blaise tossed the Quaffle through a hoop and all three girls in the stands cheered.

After half an hour, the silver and gold team was up fifty to zero, and the Snitch was nowhere to be found. Olivia and Draco were still roaming around the pitch waiting for it to make its appearance. Olivia kept squinting into the distance. She was waiting for a glint in the sunlight. Then she saw it. She raced to the left side of the pitch, and Draco instinctively knowing what she was doing, followed. The two of them were racing neck and neck after the small golden ball with wings, when George and Ron stopped to watch. They were in awe at how sleek and quick Olivia could be. They really were not used to girl Seekers. There had always been very few at Hogwarts. She glided her broom with ease as Draco sped up next to her. They both reached out for it at the same moment, and just as Draco caught the small rounded object in his palm, a Bludger came out of nowhere and smashed into his side. Draco fell the fifty feet to the ground grasping the Snitch as if it were his life-line. Olivia went into a steep dive and hopped off her broom before she was even close to the ground.

"Draco, are you okay?!" She panicked as she got close to him. He wasn't bleeding, and he shot her a smirk.

"Just great, love," he answered opening his hand to show everyone that he'd won the game.

She got down to his level and whispered into his ear, "You know there will be a rematch, because I wasn't on a team that I wanted to win." He looked up at her and she gave him a small smirk. He laughed and instantly regretted it when he clutched his left side in pain.

Pansy was the first of the spectators to reach the ground. Being a Healer, she figured it'd be best if she moved her arse. She reached Olivia and Draco and noticed that Olivia was already making him lift up his shirt.

"He's got at least one cracked rib, and several bad bruises," Olivia told her assessment to Pansy. Pansy nodded and came to kneel beside Draco. She made some noises of disapproval as she started to do some simpler healing spells on him.

"You're lucky. It could have been worse."

"Sorry about that mate. I just couldn't resist. It was a good shot though, and all in the name of a good game of Quidditch," Carver falsely apologized to Draco. "Cady, you aren't mad at me, are you?"

"Carver, you're a prat! You could have killed him. You knew how hard you were batting that Bludger and still you did it!" She yelled as he just smiled at her. It made her skin boil to just see him grinning there like some sort of wanker.

"You always were a breathtaking sight when you were angry," he mentioned as he moved closer to her. That's when the realization of what was going on right in front of her smacked her hard in the face.

"Carver, I'm warning you, go away. I don't know what you're playing at, but I want no part in it, got that?" She asked. He looked at her, gave a small frown, and nodded. He headed back towards the hotel with his friends in tow.

"Good game mates! I hope to play with you again, maybe some time when my git of a brother isn't around?" CiCi asked. She had decided to land last. She walked over to Olivia.

"You may visit whenever you like if you don't bring that arse with you," she answered as she gave CiCi a hug. Olivia may not like Carver, but was not opposed to his siblings in the least. CiCi had been in Olivia's year, and Christophe was just a year older than them. She felt no need to punish them for their brother's misgivings, especially since she was such good friends with them in their school days. They had helped her integrate the Houses better after the older kids from the war had graduated.

"Well you seem to know his family well," Draco grumbled.

"They were in our House and closer to my age. I knew them. After your lot left, we were on our own to fix the school. I think we did a good job, too. CiCi and I befriended Gryffindors. Well I mean I had befriended way before then, obviously," she said looking over at Sofia, "but CiCi made friends with them, too. We left the school with a bigger sense of we're all one school than we're four separate Houses that happen to inhabit the same school." With that being said, she stomped her foot and headed back to the hotel for a shower.

"Blimey, could you have been any dafter with her?" George asked with a grin. Picking on Draco Malfoy only occurred so often, so he took advantage when he could.

"Yes, probably," he answered. He stumbled to get up on his own. Theodore and Blaise came to his aid.

"Really want to head back to your suite, mate?" Blaise asked.

"Yes, she'll be worse if I don't."

Blaise nodded and helped Draco back to his suite. Pansy followed them telling Draco to take it easy the next few days. He needed to let the cracked rib finish healing before he went and did anything strenuous. He just mumbled yeses to her every time she asked him if he was clear on something.

* * *

The next morning, Draco apologized profusely for being insensitive. Olivia, knowing that Draco was still growing up (even at 28) forgave him. He felt that he barely knew her after that, and had decided that she tell him about the four years of Hogwarts he wasn't there.

"Do you really want to know? Because you are forgiven for your insensitivity, you don't need to try and make up for it."

"Yes, I really want to know."

"Oh, well then, I'll tell you all about my fourth year."

"Sounds good."

"Well the year started out shaky because the year before had been the battle, but McGonagall had insisted that the school be ready, and it was. We rode the train like always, and I sat with Sofia, CiCi, and CiCi's two older brothers, Carver and Christophe. We were talking about how everything might be different this year, when I said that we should be friends with everyone because prejudice is what caused the war. Voldemort's prejudice, my father's prejudice, your father's prejudice, it was what caused the war. They agreed with me. Carver had complimented me for being incredibly smart. I had been flattered by his compliment. When we made it to school we went in the carriages and all of us could see the thestrals. We got to the Great Hall for the feast and there were these big round tables, not the House tables. We took our seats at one and there were still seven more empty chairs. Slowly, a bunch of students from other Houses sat with us. It was there that we made good friends for the rest of the year."

Draco listened intently while Olivia finished the story of her fourth year at Hogwarts. She talked about the try-outs for Quidditch and how she had won the position of Seeker while Carver and Christophe were the new Beaters. She talked about how the Ravenclaws won the Quidditch Cup that year and she had never been madder at herself. He laughed at that. She talked about how Carver and she started dating. She talked about the friends that they made. Olivia continued talking until late in the day. She had filled him in on everything until she ended up on Pansy's doorstep after graduation. Draco knew the story from there. He had become fond of Olivia when she moved into Pansy's flat. For awhile, he really believed he thought of her as a sister, but as he looked back, he knew he was lying to himself. He had been obsessed with her since she was seven, he just couldn't admit it because Lucius had never allowed the thought to stay long in his head. Lucius made sure that Draco was told before every birthday party, "Don't pick that bloody LaMette girl! She's a disgrace to purebloods everywhere."

"I love you, you know that right?" He asked her.

"I do."

"And you know I'm sorry about my behavior. It's just. I know what Lexington's playing at, and his sister confirmed it at the Quidditch game. He's trying to win you back."

* * *

Carver found them at breakfast two days after the match. They seemed even more connected than they had been before, and it was driving him nutters. Why did Malfoy have this effect on her? He tapped his younger brother on the shoulder and pointed to her. Christophe looked over-joyed to see her.

"Want to go say hi?" Carver asked. He knew that she wouldn't refuse to let Christophe sit with her for breakfast. He was going to use his brother and sister when she made it down from her room to get back into his ex-girlfriend's good graces.

"Sure," answered Christophe as he got up from where he was standing. He headed over to the happy couple's table and Carver followed.

Olivia noticed when a shadow cast itself over the table. She looked up and saw Christophe looking as elegant as ever.

"Christophe!" She screeched and jumped out of her chair to give him an encompassing hug, and then she noticed Carver and narrowed her eyes at him.

"Hi Olivia, how are you doing?"

"I'm good. Did your brother put you up to coming over here?"

"Well he suggested it. I hadn't noticed you come in, but if I had, then yes I would have came over here out of my own accord."

She nodded and gave him another hug. "Draco, this is Christophe, the better of the Lexington brothers," she introduced them.

Christophe understood why Carver had brought them over here. Olivia had grown into a pretty good-looking girl, and she was on the arm of Draco Malfoy. Christophe was happy for her.

"I'm also better looking." He joked as Malfoy took his hand and gave it a good shake.

Over the next hour, Draco listened as the two friends reminisced and made sure to glower at Carver the entire time.


	11. That's Cheating!

**Chapter Eleven: That's Cheating!**

They had left the hotel a day early and returned to Draco's flat to get away from Carver Lexington and his constant presence.

"Back so soon?" Blaise asked. Sofia was staring him down over a game of Wizard's Chess as the happy couple popped into the living room.

"You're attempting to play her at Wizard's Chess?" Olivia returned his question with one of her own.

"No, I'm losing at Wizard's Chess repeatedly. Damn woman and her constant knowing what I'm going to do." He said in friendly jest with a smirk at Sofia. She smiled back. She knew he was the one who wanted to play, and she knew that the two of them would be back home any moment.

"So, Carver was being a prat?" Sofia asked. Olivia laughed. Once you have that connection your life is no longer private with Sofia.

"Yes, and I just couldn't take it anymore," Olivia answered, "Instead, Christophe and CiCi are going to come here for dinner."

"Really?" Sofia asked excitedly. It had been a long time since she had seen those friends from Hogwarts as well.

Draco just sat idly listening to the girls' chatter. He was trying to place where he had seen CiCi before the Quidditch game. He just didn't know where.

"You look like you're trying to remember something," Sofia said as she came up to him.

"Yes, you're friend, CiCi, she looks familiar, but I don't know where I would have seen her," he answered. Sofia responded by placing her hands out for Draco to take them. He looked at her questioningly.

"Trust me. I can help you find the memory you're looking for," she nudged him.

"Or I could just give him a hint as to where he's seen her," Olivia started with a sly smile. She liked knowing that she knew this about his past and he didn't.

"Yes, I guess you could do that," Sofia agreed.

"Okay, where have I seen her?" He asked giving up at the look on Olivia's face.

"The last time you saw her she would have been seven at your eleventh birthday party much like me. Only when she was introduced, they said her full name and she was in a powder pink ball gown." Olivia explained. Draco looked as if he was wracking his brain for the answer, but it was Blaise who gained the dawning recognition first.

"Draco, you know her because she's Cinderella Lexington. Remember, we made fun of her name for hours because it was based on some Muggle story?" Blaise asked.

"Oh, that's right," Draco answered, "and that was the last of my parties she attended because my father had discovered that her family was what he called blood traitors. When in reality, I think they were just keeping themselves out of the war in general."

"Yes, Archibald was never a fan of Muggles or Muggle-borns, but he didn't want his family in the middle of the war. After awhile, he got over hating Muggles. Had to when the right side won the war," she explained. "That's not the point. The point is, now I have to make dinner because we have guests coming. You'll be here for dinner, right Blaise?"

"He's living in my guest room; think he's going to leave when you're offering free, already cooked food?" Draco asked her. She laughed as she looked to Blaise who agreed with Draco's assessment. "Before you make dinner, I have something to show you." He took her hand and led her to the back office. He had decided that since he knew she'd be determined to continue her work on his two potions, that he'd convert the office into a Potions lab. He was doing it to keep her safe. His place had heavy wards on it, and she wouldn't be safer at the Ministry. She gasped as she saw it.

"Draco, what is this?"

"It's your own Potions lab. You're only working on my potions at the Ministry right now, so I took it upon myself to have your work moved here. I want you safe, and since I know you're going to finish what you started…" he didn't finish because she had pulled him down into a kiss. She couldn't believe he cared enough about her to move all of her work into his home.

"Well, all that worrying about whether or not she would like it. I told you she would. Why you would believe otherwise is beyond me," Sofia said as she passed the happy couple. "And Blaise isn't in the guest room anymore, Draco," she started and he looked up with hope, "I am. He's just taken up residence on the couch," she finished, and he shook his head.

"Just when I thought I was rid of him, I gain another," he whispered. Olivia laughed at him. She knew he enjoyed the company. He didn't say it ever, but he had no one after his father died and his mother was put in the hospital. Blaise was the last of his family, and he really didn't care that he was now living on his couch.

* * *

Carver was beginning to doubt his plans as he stood staring at Olivia's older brothers. He was just finishing explaining it to them.

"So what you're saying is you want to marry our little sister, and if we bring her to you, in return you'll make sure she never finishes that potion?" Armand asked. He looked to Marcellus. The other man was nodding as he thought.

"It could be a very good plan. We get rid of her for good, Mum and Dad stay out of Azkaban, and she'll never finish that bloody potion," Marcellus reasoned aloud. He stepped away from Carver and pulled Armand with him. They both discussed it for a moment, and then turned back to Carver.

"We'll run it by our parents, and if they are okay with it, then you have a deal," Armand answered. Carver nodded his head. It was a better answer than he originally hoped to receive.

Both men disapparated and apparated back within ten minutes. They looked at him, each holding out their right hands.

"You have a deal," Marcellus answered as Carver took his hand for a shake. Carver grinned. This had gone splendidly.

* * *

As six o'clock rolled around, there was a knock at Draco's door. Olivia practically ran to it. She couldn't wait to have dinner with her friends again. She hadn't really realized how much she had missed her childhood friends until they had come back into her life. She opened the door to see CiCi standing with an arm hooked into Christophe's. She practically pulled them into the flat with big hugs.

"Sofia!" CiCi squealed as soon as she had seen her. She ran up to the former Gryffindor and gave her a hug that knocked the breath out of her.

"Really, what is it with you Slytherins and hugging?" Sofia asked with fake annoyance. CiCi gave a short laugh and let go of her friend.

"How have you been?"

"Well Mum died about two years ago, but other than that it has been okay."

"Oh, I'm so sorry."

"I'm over it."

"Sofia," Christophe said, giving her hand a light kiss. He always had been the better mannered boy of the Lexington brothers. He looked up with his deep blue eyes and smiled. Sofia thanked him as she pulled lint off of his sweater.

"Your hair is darker than I remember," she said. His usually light brown hair had deepened to a medium brown color.

"It's called growing up," he answered. She laughed.

Draco glanced sideways at Blaise and noticed his fists clench. He gave a small chuckle, and leaned over to whisper in the dark man's ear, "It's not so fun when you're the competition, is it?"

"Shove it," was all he could respond.

"Dinner's ready!" Olivia called from the kitchen. She started levitating serving dishes to Draco's elaborate and round dining room table as they all took their seats. She hoped they enjoyed the pasta dish that she had perfected living with Pansy.

Things became a tad awkward when Sofia was seated between Blaise and Christophe. She sighed knowing exactly what they both were thinking. Olivia let out a soft giggle, and CiCi joined in by muttering something about boys. Draco just smirked at Blaise.

They ate, constantly praising Olivia for her cooking, and then they sat in Draco's living area on the couch discussing Hogwarts. Sofia once mentioned how she always surrounded herself with Slytherins, and Olivia asked her if she really wanted it any differently. Sofia gave her a smile, and said of course not. Then the raven haired girl asked to be excused so she could use the restroom. While there, she had a vision. It was so strong and so disturbing that she stumbled and fell into the tub. Olivia was the first to react to the crash, followed closely by Blaise and Christophe. Both men helped Sofia up and led her back to the couch.

"What happened?" CiCi asked concerned.

"I had a vision, and it came stronger than it usually does. That's all," Sofia explained as Olivia handed her a cup of tea. Sofia drank it, and told herself she'd ask Olivia about the vision later.

A few hours after Sofia's fall, CiCi and Christophe said their goodbyes. CiCi pulled Draco aside to say something to him in private.

"I'm glad you grew up a better man than your father. She needs someone to take care of her. She'd never admit that, but it's true. Her brothers, they are evil little sods and one of these days they're going to finish what they started. Make sure you're there to stop it." CiCi warned, something in her eyes telling him that she would kill him if he didn't. She thanked him for the evening and turned on her heel, her soft wheat-colored hair following behind her.

"Well I need to get some sleep, so how bout you all bugger off out of my room!" Blaise announced, and Draco laughed at him. He took Olivia's hand and she led the way to his room, but before they were completely there, Sofia stopped them.

"Can I talk to Olivia for just a minute?"

"Sure," Draco answered, "I'll just be in our room." Olivia nodded and followed Sofia into the guest bedroom.

"Why would you go talk to your family?" Sofia asked, and Olivia looked at her confused.

"What do you mean?"

"The vision, the vision was about you and you were going to see your family. I about nearly had a heart attack as I saw you standing in front of your brothers like that."

"I have no intention to see them. Merlin, help me if I ever do! You're vision has to be wrong," Olivia explained calmly, and Sofia nodded. If Olivia had no plans to see the twins, then the vision must be wrong, right?

* * *

Olivia was working silently on the first potion again in the room that Draco had made for her, while he was back at the Ministry, when she heard a crackling in the fireplace. She smiled thinking it was Draco asking if she wanted to have dinner with him, as he had done for the last few days.

As she expected, he was there. "Asking for me to join you at dinner, again?" She asked light-heartedly. He shook his head.

"No, I was wondering if you could meet me in Diagon Alley for lunch in a few moments?"

"Oh, of course, I'll be there in ten minutes, just let me get changed," she answered. She went back to the bedroom she was currently sharing with him, and started to flit about the room looking for an outfit.

Ten minutes later she was appearing out of a fireplace in Diagon Alley, and her world went black.

* * *

When she woke, she noticed the pale green and purple room. She recognized it immediately as her room in their summer home in Greece.

"Olivia is awake!" Armand shouted out into the hallway. Olivia groaned. She might not have been planning on talking to her brothers, but apparently they were dead-set on talking to her.

"What now?" She grumbled softly as her body registered the ache in the back of her head.

"We have a proposition for you, dear sister," Marcellus began as he entered the room, "we've decided that you can live, but only if you go with him." Marcellus moved out of the doorway and standing behind him was Carver. Olivia groaned again inwardly.

"What if I don't really like that option?" She asked knowing full well that they would tell her that she could die.

"Then we Avada Kedavra you, and tell him better luck next time." Armand answered. Wow, could these two be any less predictable? She didn't need Sofia's gift to predict her two idiot brothers. What's so hard about their usual punch line? Do what we want you to do, or die.

"So what will it be?" Marcellus asked.

"You say that like it's really a choice. I choose life, which means I choose to do what you want me to do," she explained to him. Seriously, were they morons?

"Good sister."

"Yes, I know, I'm amazing."

"She really has a mouth these days."

"I'll fix that. Just give her to me." Carver ordered. Marcellus lifted Olivia up and handed her to Carver.

"Just make sure she doesn't finish that potion. That was your part of this deal," he said as Carver took Olivia from him.

"Oh, she won't have time for that."

Carver disapparated with her. He had brought her to a small chateau. It was a pale ivory color with pale blue shutters and deep blue doors. She didn't recall ever being there.

"It's my home in the south of France, love," he whispered to her. She cringed at the sound of him calling her love. There was only one drawling voice that should ever say that to her, and she wondered where he was.

* * *

Draco had Flooed about ten minutes after Olivia had scampered off to Diagon Alley to meet who she thought was him. When she didn't answer his call, he immediately began to worry. He pulled his head out of the fireplace and found Sofia in the training wing.

"She's not at the flat!" He told her. Sofia stopped training and cleared her mind.

"Oh, I should have known. How could I have been so stupid?" She asked mumbling to herself.

"What?" Draco asked.

"Her brothers, they've taken her. They've taken her to Carver. The vision I had the other night. The angle it was at, I thought it was Olivia seeking them out so I talked to her about it, and it turned out she wasn't thinking it at all. Now I realize it was Carver's decision. They made a deal. Carver got Olivia if he stopped her from finishing your potion," she explained frantically.

"Where is she?" He demanded, grabbing Sofia's shoulders.

"In the south of France, getting married."


	12. Game Over for Them?

**Chapter Twelve: Game Over for Them?**

Olivia watched as Carver transfigured her outfit into a not-so-modest wedding gown. It was cut lower than it should have been and was backless. In Olivia's opinion, it was probably the tackiest wedding dress she'd ever seen, and she was wearing it. Carver had planned this perfectly because not only were her brothers here, but her mother and father had made it to this un-joyous occasion. Reynaud stood next to her, ready to walk her down the aisle to a man he approved of now. If it had been ten years before, then this boy would never get the chance, but now he was of the same mind as his own family.

A man from the French Ministry stood at the front. He was going to provide the service to the young couple. Olivia watched as her father escorted her past her brothers and mother in the first pew. Carver stood in the front to the right of the French Ministry official. She was crying. There was no reason to hold in the feelings she had about this situation. This wizarding marriage would become a magical contract. It literally was 'until death do us part.'

The ceremony was quick and to the point. Olivia sobbed harder as the ceremony reached its peak and she had to sign the marriage certificate using a quill much like the one Dolores Umbridge used to punish Harry Potter. She had heard all the horror stories of that quill from Harry during their eleven months of dating. She hesitated for about two moments, but watched as her family breathed down her neck. She knew they were waiting for her to not sign it, and they could openly use the Killing Curse on her. Olivia cried one more heart-wrenching sob before elegantly putting her signature on the parchment in front of her. She cringed at the pain in her right hand, but knew that it was the least of her problems.

"Where would you like to go on your honeymoon?" Carver asked her. Her eyes widened at the implication of his question and she froze beside him. "We have to go on a honeymoon. We're going to enjoy our first night together."

* * *

"What do you mean she's getting married?!" Draco yelled in frustration. He ran his hands through his hair. How could she get married? He loved her.

"Carver just convinced her family that he could stop her from making your potion by having them capture her and give her to him," Sofia explained. Draco shook his head in horror. It couldn't be. Wizarding marriages were binding. It meant that one of them had to die in order to end it. Draco was pretty sure he was going to kill Lexington.

"Do you have an exact location?" Draco asked her in a completely calm and reasonable voice. The extreme opposite emotions from the last question, and she began to worry.

"I don't, but maybe if I ask Christophe or CiCi, if they recognize the house…" she trailed off as he nodded. His calm demeanor was frightening her because she was pretty sure that a composed Draco Malfoy meant havoc for someone else.

* * *

Carver brought her inside the chateau. Any other circumstances and Olivia would be appreciating the soft colors of every room. There were rooms filled with beautiful hand-painted French furniture. Carver stopped outside of the last room down a long hall at the top of the grand staircase. Olivia took in a breath for strength. She knew what lay beyond this door.

"Welcome to my room, Mrs. Lexington," he said to her as he opened the beautifully carved wooden door. Inside was a four poster bed that she was sure could fit twelve people covered with a deep blue canopy. The walls were painted a deep crimson, and the bedspread matched both the blue in the canopy and the red of the walls. She awed at the room in spite of herself. It was extremely beautiful. "Well at least I know the room will make you happy." She heard him say next to her and felt her stomach tighten in tension. She did not want to do this. Her memories of this activity with him were less than wonderful.

"So let's see what has Malfoy following you around like an owl with a Howler," Carver said as he used his wand to tear away the dress he made for her. When it fell to the floor in shreds it returned back to the outfit it once had been. Olivia mourned a little for it. It was one of her favorite shirts. She was brought back to present day as Carver spoke to her. She cringed as he sent the Imperius curse at her.

* * *

Sofia had sketched a drawing of the house in what she recognized as the south of France as accurately as she could for Christophe and CiCi. When they arrived at Draco's flat, he explained to them what had happened with their older brother and Olivia. Sofia explained that she had seen a house in the south of France, and if either of them could identify it.

"That's our summer home," CiCi said once Sofia showed her the drawing.

"Can you get us there?" Draco asked her.

"Yes, but we have to go by broom part of the way because there are wards against apparition of unknown guests," explained Christophe.

Draco nodded. He was never opposed to flying. Also, he was ready to do anything to get Olivia away from Lexington.

* * *

Olivia woke up, and hated the way she felt. She knew what he had made her do under the Imperius curse even though she couldn't remember. She looked at the ring on her left hand and shuddered. She was Carver's wife. It was a disheartening thought, so she tried not to dwell on it.

"I'd say you've learned some stuff, but you were Imperiused the whole time. Of course, that means I was in control of your actions," Carver explained with a harsh laugh. He ran his fingers through the deep auburn strands of Olivia's hair. She tried to shy away from his touch but he refused to let her. "You are my wife, and you will act as if you are," he said as he pulled her to him. She shivered. It took all of two minutes for Olivia to decide that she was done being the victimized witch. She could feel her anger boiling, but at the same time, it was also surfacing as some sort of power. She blinked. She remembered Christophe telling her once that she had to have some sort of confrontational power in her somewhere. Potions required a great length of knowledge and skill, but the best potions were brewed or created by very powerful people. She had never thought herself capable of such magic, but Harry and Carver had done enough to her in the past, and she refused to keep letting them do it. She was going to get out of this herself, and then she was going to go back to the people who loved her. When she looked up at Carver he had to stop himself from stepping back from the blinding anger and hatred that suddenly welled up in Olivia's eyes.

"What is it with you power types that you think you can just make me do what you want all the time?!" She shouted. Carver conceded to taking that one step back. The look Olivia had given him was startling. She wrenched her knee into his groin and he let out a howl of pain and dropped his wand. She elegantly bent to pick it up while holding a sheet over her. "Petrificus Totalus!" She shouted and he was frozen in a crotch grabbing frenzy. She dropped his wand to the ground and stomped on it until it snapped. Thoroughly satisfied with her destruction, she went to the fireplace, threw in some Floo powder, and shouted her destination.

* * *

Draco, Ron, and Blaise, as acting Aurors, and Christophe and CiCi touched down in front of the chateau. Christophe and CiCi were seconds before the other three to say the counter-spell to the wards around the place. The five of them didn't spend time there. They ran into the house as if their lives depended on it. And in their eyes, there friend's life was on the line. Ron stopped more than once to gawk at some of the stuff in the house. It wasn't really helping their situation, but it had to be dealt with because of Ron's upbringing in the Burrow.

When they finally reached the room that Christophe and CiCi were sure they would be in, all they found was Carver. He was Petrified and his wand was sitting in pieces in front of him.

"She decides to put her natural ability to use after we have the rescue party out to get her," Christophe mentioned. Draco looked at him confused. "Please, you're telling me that you didn't know the girl had power? She doesn't brew and create Potions without it! She just doesn't really know how to use it in confrontation, until now, apparently."

"They're still married though. She could be unfaithful, like her parents, but she'll still be Mrs. Lexington," Ron pointed out.

"Actually, I talked to your brother. He could break the marriage contract as Minister, and he's willing knowing she unwillingly went into it," Blaise told them.

"That's all good and well, but where did she go?" CiCi asked the obvious question.

* * *

"Oh Merlin!" Molly Weasley screamed as a sheet-covered Olivia came out of her fireplace.

"Sorry Mrs. Weasley, but I need Ginny," Olivia explained wrapping the sheet tighter around her.

Molly, being rendered speechless for once, just nodded and pointed up the stairs of the Burrow. Olivia nodded her head in thanks and headed up the stairs. "Ginny!" She called out because she didn't know which room was hers.

"Olivia?" Ginny questioned from one flight down. Olivia had over-shot her just a little bit. She ran back down a flight. Ginny gasped as she saw Olivia in a red sheet.

"First, I want clothes, then we're going to go talk to your fiancé and work out some stuff," she explained in a voice that struck Ginny visibly.

"What's happened to you?"

"I'm sick of males telling me what to do! Carver Lexington just made me his wife," she held up both her hands to Ginny to show her the scars from the quill and the obnoxious Lexington family crest signet she was wearing, "and I just escaped him. Now I'm off to tell your boyfriend, that if he messes with me again, that you're a widow!"

Ginny looked up at her, "I think that's the best idea I've ever heard." Ginny opened the door to her room and let Olivia past her. She found herself in a tiny, but comfortable room. Ginny went to a small dresser and pulled out a pair of jeans. "You may have to alter the size a little. You're a bit shorter than I, but they'll look good on you. And, here is a shirt."

Olivia took the clothes along with some brand new undergarments that Ginny had quickly transfigured, and changed. Once she was finished changing, Ginny re-entered the room.

"So how do we get to Mr. Potter?" Olivia asked deviously.

"Right now he's restricted to his flat until he's deemed emotionally and mentally stable by his counselor," answered Ginny matter-of-factly.

"Well then, to his flat we go," Ginny insisted, and to his flat they went. They went downstairs and Ginny went first to the fireplace, to let Olivia find out where they were going. Olivia followed, and she felt the familiar rush of Floo transportation. Once it stopped, she was pleased to see that she was indeed in the same flat that Harry had hurt her in not days before, but this time she was going to be the one talking. She stepped out, and Harry narrowed his eyes at Ginny and her together.

"What is she doing here?" He practically spit at Ginny.

"Why don't you ask her," Ginny replied as she took a seat on a small cozy chair.

"He doesn't have to, he's going to shut up, and he's going to listen," Olivia said and flicked her wand at him. He suddenly lost a voice and was glued to the couch. "You ready for this Potter?" She asked, not really waiting for an answer. "This is how it works. I am no longer going to sit around and be baby Slytherin Olivia LaMette to you people. You are going to get over yourself and you're going to do it quickly or you're going to lose that girl sitting over there. Secondly, I am not yours to control Potter. I never was. I know that now. Looking back, I see that I was the experiment. The one to find out if you really did love Ginny, and fine you do and now I'm over it. However, that doesn't mean you or anyone else for that matter, get to tell me who I love and get to be with. So you either man up Potter, or become the Boy-Who-Lived-Only-To-Be-Left-By-All-His-Friends-Because-He-Can't-Control-How-Big-His-Scarhead-Got!" She didn't mean to end on a screech, but as she looked at him become a bit paler than he was, she knew it got the point across. She was done with not being in control of her life. He looked up at her. He really looked at her, shook his head in shame, and pointed to his mouth.

"Is it something worth hearing, Harry?" Ginny asked for her.

His head nodded, and Olivia searched his eyes for any give away that he didn't mean it. There wasn't any. So, she flicked her wand again, and he moved his jaw around and made noises to test that he really could speak. "Be quick, I have other people to tend to," she said with her petite hands on round hips.

"What do you want me to do? I want to help. I've screwed this up pretty bad. You're right. I think it got me when Ginny looked at me like she loathed me and left me."

"When I bring you my family, you use that big giant mound of fame and persuasion you have to put them away and give my father the Dementor's Kiss. The LaMettes' evil ends with me. My brothers will not get a chance to sire evil spawns just like them," she explained.

"I can do that."

"Then, I'll be on my way. Take care of her," Olivia said before the distinct pop of disapparation was heard and she had disappeared from right in front of them.

"I meant it, Gin. It took you leaving for me to realize everything had gotten too far out of control."

"I know," she answered as she approached him on the sofa. She sat in his arms for a moment. Everything was going to be alright with them, but she hoped that Olivia hadn't gone too far over the edge with going after her family.

* * *

Olivia's apparition pop was heard throughout Draco's flat. Sofia came running from the guest room.

"Some speech you gave Harry," was all she needed to say before crossing to her friend and hugging her, "I've always known you were more powerful than you thought you were. I know you're no Hermione Weasley, but you're definitely not some low-profile witch either. This is why I have to tell you something before you go. Because, I need you to come back, you need to know that you're my half-sister. Your mother's affair was my father." Sofia had thought that it would be hard to say, but because she knew Olivia would be fine with the information she rushed it out softly.

"I know."

"No you didn't."

"Well, no, I didn't, but I believe you. You wouldn't have said it, if it weren't true. I have never known you to lie. And I am coming back. I just have some business that has to be settled first," she answered her friend, and ran to the room that Draco had converted for her. She began to work in a maniac-like fashion on the Dark Mark Potion.

This is where she was when Draco and the others returned back to his flat. He had come rushing from the fireplace like a madman. He spotted Sofia.

"Is she here?"

Sofia told him yes and pointed down the hallway.

He ran to end of it, and there she was flittering away at the room much like the day he had come in when she had first made progress with his potions. He couldn't help but smirk.

"You. Here. Now."

He didn't wait for her to say it twice. He could hear in her voice that some inner beast had been let out. Something inside her had finally snapped. He could understand that. After being pushed around by people time and time again, he would have snapped. He slowly held up his left forearm. She dropped five drops of the potion onto his arm, and after ten seconds, the Dark Mark in all its horrible glory appeared on his skin. It was an atrocious thing, but it was there none-the-less. Olivia gave a cheeky smirk to him.

"I don't know if I like you like this," he said uneasily.

"Oh, you will," she said walking away with more confidence than she normally would have had.

He didn't have long to think about her statement before his wards went off.

"What is that?" CiCi asked from down the hall.

"That is the LaMette family entrance cue," Sofia answered before Olivia could. She stood with wand ready. They were coming through that door in about two minutes and forty-five seconds, and they were four to six. Not exactly an overpowering number, but definitely enough to have an edge.

Olivia walked to the front with her wand pointed outward and a potion in hand. Draco's heart leapt to his throat, but with Olivia's sudden burst of power he didn't dare tell her to move. Olivia looked back at Sofia. The raven-haired girl winked at her. The door busted down, and all hell broke loose in Draco's penthouse flat.

* * *

The fight hadn't lasted more than 15 minutes. Olivia had tossed the vial at her family's feet and watched as they all suddenly froze. She could tell by the looks on their faces that they were upset they had seen their Dark Mark again.

"You really shouldn't have trusted your only daughter to someone like Carver Lexington," she practically threw back in their face. "But then again," she looked at Reynaud before starting the next part, "I'm not wholly part of your family. And, I am not your daughter, Father. I am, apparently, the daughter of Aindrias Griffin. How lucky for you, huh?"

Everyone else imagined that Reynaud's face would have contorted with anger if it could, but as he was frozen, it didn't.

Sofia had sent out her Patronus the moment the door had been busted through by hexes. Her wolf glided elegantly to a Minister Weasley who was sitting patiently in Harry's flat. The Patronus sent the message that they were here and that Sofia and Olivia were going to disarm them, and then he, Harry, and Ginny were to come to Draco's flat.

They arrived within minutes after Olivia's small, smug speech. They all stared wide-eyed at Olivia holding four wands in her left hand and her own wand in her right.

"What's gotten into her?" Ginny asked referring to Olivia's sudden militant-like confidence and power.

"My guess, she's finally getting her surge of confidence that connects to her power. Most of us get it that first or second year of school when we find something we're good at. However, there are cases of it occurring later. Neville Longbottom, for instance, didn't get his until the Final Battle at Hogwarts. I think Miss LaMette's final snap brought hers out." Percy explained to them.

Sofia nodded. She remembered in third year her confidence boosted after her discovery in Divination.

Olivia suddenly noticed where she was and everyone around her. She dropped all the wands, including hers, and started shaking. The color instantly drained from her face. Draco went to her. She turned to him and slumped against his chest. Her shaking started to worsen and tears were soaking into Draco's robes. He could tell she was shocked. Normally, Draco would be put-off by tears, but feeling as he almost lost her, he just held her against him.

"She'll be okay in a few minutes. I don't think she realized her surge had taken over her," Sofia told them. She walked up to where Draco was holding Olivia and ran her fingers through Olivia's dark auburn hair. Once she pulled her hand away from the bottom of the strands that reached Olivia's mid-back, Draco guided her to the sofa. Harry and Ron had taken over the guarding of her Petrified family. She slowly gained back her composure and the color in her face. She was breathing steadier.

"Are you alright now, love?" He asked her. She nodded and watched as he grinned at her.

"What?" She inquired. She really wasn't in the mood to be laughed at.

"I came in for a rescue mission and you had already left. It's amazing to see you like this, someone who was locked in her mind not too long ago. You were an Amazon warrior there for a minute," he explained to her.

"I know. It was as if something snapped inside of me. I suddenly felt like I was sick of everybody having control over me and my life," she whispered.

"It's okay," he mumbled as he nuzzled into her hair. The smell of coconut washed over him and gave him a sense of relief. She was in his arms and she was better than okay. There wasn't much more he could have wanted.

"It's not okay. I married that wanker and then I couldn't kill him. How am I supposed to marry you?" She rattled out on the verge of tears again.

It was Percy who calmed her, "I've talked to the French Minister. The gentleman who married you knowing you were prisoner is going to be fired and they will be sending me the contract so I can null and void it. It will be as if you were never married in a legal sense. I know that's not the same for your personal feelings and memories, but it's what I could do."

It was enough for Olivia. So much so, that she shot off the couch into Percy's arms.

"Yes, well, you're welcome," he said as he tried to release himself from her grip, "It'll be undone in a few days once I get the certificate."

"Thank you Percy!" She exclaimed as she let go of him. She breathed in and out to relax. Everything was going well. She had gone into shock because she was sure she was having a Tom Riddle power problem. Her life was going to be steady again. As she though this, a pop was heard, and Pansy (holding Theodore's hand) appeared in the middle of the chaos in Draco's living room.

Pansy set her gaze on Draco and said, "Draco, you need to get to St. Mungo's. Your mother is lucid and we think she may stay that way."

Draco stood quickly to follow Pansy before turning back to look at Olivia. "Come with me," he said to her as he held out a hand.

She complied by putting her hand in his and disapparating to the hospital.

"Of course! Leave the rest of us here to sort out this mess!" Ron grumbled. Blaise rolled his eyes and took control of the situation in the flat. Sofia watched as he did it gracefully and as if he had been cleaning up disasters all his life.

* * *

Pansy watched as her already slightly pale friend paled even further at the prospect of seeing his mother after seven years. She could see his knuckles were white holding Olivia's hand a little too tightly.

"Draco, breathe and ease up on Olivia's hand," she said to him. He moved his thunderstorm cloud gray eyes from staring at the door to his mother's room to where he was holding Olivia's hand. He released a little of the pressure and gave an apologetic look to Olivia. She just gave his hand a squeeze and told him it would be okay. Pansy smiled at Olivia. The two of them were going to be wonderful together. She had known it from the day that Olivia had come to her door to be her roommate.

_There was a sudden 'pop' and a small girl appeared in the middle of Pansy's living room. She stood with her head held high. She was wearing faded jeans with a green T-shirt. Her dark ginger hair was thrown up into a ponytail. Pansy had decided to accept her as a roommate for penance to their childhood. She had never been particularly nice to Olivia before. Draco Malfoy, Blaise Zabini, and Theodore Nott stood staring at the barely of-age witch in the middle of the room._

"_Olivia, I'm sure you remember Draco, Blaise, and Theodore from Hogwarts, they're here to help us move your stuff into the flat," she had reintroduced them._

_All three men gave her a small handshake before Blaise asked where they were to go to get her stuff. She explained they could get it by Floo or apparate it here from her family's home. They all knew the LaMette Manor well enough from their dysfunctional childhoods to be able to apparate there. Pansy said she would wait here to help direct them when they got back. They agreed and started to disapparate. However, Pansy noticed that Draco couldn't stop staring at the eighteen-year-old like she was a dream he was having._

"_What's the matter Draco?" She asked quietly. He shook his head and responded with a quick nothing before following the others lead and disapparating to her home. Pansy just let out a small laugh. Draco was going to fall for her one day and it was going to be news to him when he did it._

Pansy let the memory drift out of her thoughts as she thought about the future they could have together. She could picture a beautiful strawberry-blonde godchild from the two of them and smiled cheerfully.

"We're all here with you, Draco, just go in. She's probably waiting for you," Olivia urged him. He agreed with her and proceeded into his mother's hospital room.

Narcissa sat in the middle of the bed. Her honey-blonde hair was swept into a twist at the base of her neck. She was even prettier than Olivia had remembered. Narcissa turned her head to see her only child and the woman she had wanted him to marry over a decade ago holding hands.


	13. We're Playing a New Game

**Chapter Thirteen: We're Playing a New Game**

Olivia was shocked to see Narcissa smiling at her. She was sure that the older woman would be disgraced to see her heir apparent with a blood traitor.

"Don't look so shocked dear. I've always been fond of you, since you were a girl," Narcissa said rationally. Draco looked like he was going to be sick. "Draco, son, your mouth is hanging open."

Draco immediately spoke, "Mother, you're perfectly fine?""

"I'll let you know in a minute if I am. How long have I been catatonic?"

"About seven years," Pansy answered because Draco seemed too disheveled to do so himself.

"Yes, then I'm alright. I'm so sorry about that love. The Malfoy family has a tradition of 'mourning' unlike others. When you get married to a Malfoy, your marriage certificate specifies that in the case that one should die before the other, that the surviving spouse will spend three years in a catatonic state of mourning out of respect for the other. It was something that one of your ancestors, Maximus Malfoy, had put in place. He was distraught that his wife was going to marry someone as soon as he died. It turned out she died first and he was put into this magical mourning for three years. When I knew that your father was going to die, I told him I wanted this curse lifted from you. I didn't want you to have to suffer through it, especially, because I knew you'd eventually figure out that you were in love with Miss LaMette and wouldn't want her to suffer that either. In order to lift it from you, I had to stay in the curse longer than I normally would have," she explained as if it were a story about the last ball she attended.

"Nothing normal about the Malfoy family is there Mother?" Draco asked with a bit of amusement as he went to hug her.

Olivia stood and watched. If she were a sentimental person, then she would have been saddened that she did not have the same love from her mother. Instead, she was happy that Draco could have this time with his mother.

"Well, let me take a look at her," Narcissa said gesturing to Olivia. Olivia walked over to the bed and waited for judgment. "You're not much taller than you were at eleven, but that really doesn't matter. Your hair has darkened significantly. It's almost the color of blood. You don't have the normal angular features that Malfoys have, but I think that is another welcome change," she stopped to look at her son, "Finally figured it out. I thought I raised a smarter boy than that."

"I think I was still listening to Father's voice in my head."

"I always hoped you would ignore him at all those birthdays and just pick her."

* * *

The events of the recent past had died down and everything was back to normal with a few welcome adjustments. Blaise returned to his penthouse suite in his hotel, and with him went Sofia. Olivia had giggled a little at the idea, but was happy for Sofia nonetheless. It had taken a few days for Olivia to calm down and take in everything that happened during her warpath. One of the biggest things to think about was her biological connections to Sofia. However, it had made sense that the two of them had been sisters all along, even if it were an overwhelming idea. Another big idea that Olivia had to swallow was that Narcissa Malfoy wanted her as a daughter-in-law. The woman was already planning a wedding that would invite all of wizarding Britain and then some. Olivia had nearly swooned at the idea of a wedding this soon after her life had literally gone upside down.

"You're thinking again," Draco pointed out to her. He gave a small chuckle as she shot him an icy look. She needed to stop analyzing it all. Life was messy; especially the life of a witch or wizard, so Olivia spending time making sense of it all would just drive her nutters.

"I'm sorry, but I still can't believe I did that!" She claimed. He knew she was referring to her staggering power surge.

"I know, but according to Christophe, it was expected. You apparently never lived up to the potential he knew you had," he explained while adjusting dress robes. They were going to Ginny Weasley's twenty-seventh birthday party that Blaise was allowing to be thrown in one of the hotel's private banquet rooms. Ginny had insisted that the two of them come along with the other friends they had made. Draco was unsure at first, but Olivia had agreed, so he would go. He didn't know what Olivia had said to Potter, but whatever it was he had gone back to being modest St. Potter. Actually, Draco missed the wanker Potter had turned out to be only because he enjoyed poking at him for finally acting like the infamous git Draco knew he could be. However, to make himself feel better, Draco pictured Olivia hexing Potter back into his reasonable self.

Olivia wandered over to him sometime during his rambling thoughts to tie the bowtie at his neck. He looked down and wished he hadn't. The pale green dress was strapless, with a cinched waist beneath the chest area, and a skirt that flowed away from her legs and was longer in the back (giving the illusion of a small train). Draco suddenly would rather stay home. He dipped his head to hers to tell her just how much he'd rather be alone with her. He kissed her lightly in a way that conveyed his thoughts to her.

"Oh no you don't!" She was exasperated as she lightly pushed him away. "I did not buy this dress for no one but you to see it!"

He gave her a small pout, but nodded at her practicality. He knew the dress was just under a hundred galleons and knew that he really shouldn't be the only person that appreciated the view of her in it. However, he would be the only one to show his physical appreciation later. He smirked at the idea and wondered if he could get away with skiving the later part of the party by feigning illness.

"Don't even think about it," she answered his thoughts as if she heard them.

"Well since you insist, we should probably get to the hotel," he said hoping she'd change her mind about going. He soon got his answer as she took his hand and led him to the fireplace.

The Floo journey to the hotel was simple and quick. They left the hotel fireplace looking just as immaculate as they had going into their own. They had been smart enough to cast a cleaning charm on their clothes before leaving.

Draco was a bit nervous to be entering a party that would have more former Gryffindors than any other outing he's ever attended. He linked arms with Olivia and escorted her to the private room that Blaise had set aside for today. It had been decorated in Holyhead Harpies colors (green and gold) to support Ginny's love of the professional Quidditch team. Ginny was talking to Zacharias Smith, Luna Lovegood, Neville Longbottom, and a few other people from school. Olivia approached her, Draco in tow, to wish her a happy birthday. Once they were done saying hello to the guest of honor, they headed towards a table that sat Blaise, Sofia, Pansy, Theodore, CiCi, and Christophe.

"I like how we have our very own Slytherin table," Pansy mumbled, and Sofia sighed in frustration. "Please, you are an honorary Slytherin. You hung out with these three during Hogwarts, and they're all Slytherins."

"I guess you're right," she agreed with a cheery smile. The group sat there through most of the night chatting and enjoying their own company until it was time for people to make toasts to Ginny. All of her brothers decided to get up and make one crack or another about being a scary witch in a non-scary package or looking just like their mum. The only one who said something different was Ron. He noted that it was on August eleventh, twenty-seven years ago, that the Weasleys had the first girl born into their family in many generations. Everyone cheered to this as Ginny turned a light shade of pink. Olivia clapped and giggled a little at the other girl's embarrassment.

Once the speeches were over and the cake had been cut and passed to eager guests, Harry and Ginny approached the 'Slytherin' table.

"Olivia and Draco, may we talk to you?" Ginny asked politely. Olivia nodded taking Draco's hand and following the other couple. Ginny led them to the corridor just outside the banquet room. "I just wanted to apologize for everything."

"Me too," Harry chimed in, not sounding as if he really enjoyed having to apologize. Olivia suspected that Ginny put him up to it.

"It's okay. Really, I've decided I want all of that stuff to stay in the past. We can just forget it, and start out as friends right now," answered Olivia. Both Harry and Draco rolled their eyes at the suggestion. The two of them could work together civilly, and attend the same parties, but there was no way that either of them would ever end up being friends. Fortunately, Ginny agreed with Olivia, and the two walked away arm in arm back to the room.

"Does she really think we'll be friends?" Harry inquired.

"I think she's hopeful and spoiled. I tend to give her what she wants, and if she wants us to be friends, then more than likely we'll end up friends," he responded unhappily.

Harry sighed. Malfoy was probably right. He would do whatever Ginny wanted, and what it looked like Ginny wanted was to be friends with Olivia and Malfoy. He shook his head and followed the women back into the room with Malfoy in step beside him.

Ginny had walked all the way with Olivia back to the dejected 'Slytherin' table. She conjured up a few more seats and made the table a little longer and sat down with them. It wasn't long before Hermione and Ron made their way to the table with George Weasley and Luna Lovegood not far behind. Hermione and Ron took the two seats between Draco and Harry. Which left the open seats by Christophe and CiCi for George and Luna, they took them and started conversation.

* * *

Once they were back at their own place, Draco and Olivia had to laugh at how the night ended up. George Weasley had offered CiCi to go to lunch with him the next day and Olivia had gasped in surprise. She could understand though. CiCi was a gorgeous witch. Anyone would offer her the world if they could.

Draco watched as Olivia got ready for bed. She was extremely methodical and organized. Something he had learned in the time he had spent with her. He knew that tomorrow was going to be an important day. He was going to propose at the Manor in his mother's garden. He had decided once Percy had destroyed the marriage contract that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her.

"I love you, you know that right?" He asked her and she stopped rubbing the citrus-smelling lotion into her calves to look at him.

"Of course I know that. I love you too," she answered before returning to the lotion. He smiled at her. It had been a really long four months, but he knew that she would say yes, and for the first time in his twenty-eight years of life, he would be happy. He wasn't entirely sure he deserved it because of his transgressions for the first seventeen years of life, but he wasn't going to pass it up either.

He stretched out in the bed, and soon she followed putting her head in the crook of his shoulder with her arm lazily strewn over his chest. It had taken her mere seconds to fall asleep like that. Draco just listened to her steady breathing, occasionally brushing a small strand of hair out of her face.

Olivia found herself in the same spot the next morning. She really should have gotten up and started getting ready for the day with Draco's mother, but she couldn't bring herself to move away from him.

"Good morning," he whispered. She smiled up at him.

"Good morning to you too."

"Ready to go to the Manor today?"

"As ready as I probably will ever be."

"Trust me. She loves you already, you know that. It'll be fine. I have a feeling it's going to turn out to be a wonderful day," he forecasted with a smirk. She stared at him. He was up to something.

"Just what are you up to Draco Malfoy?"

"Nothing, I just feel like it's going to be a good day," he answered, but his smirk stayed in place. She didn't believe him, but didn't push him into telling her. Instead she got up to take a shower and get dressed to visit Narcissa.

They would have been arriving at the Manor an hour earlier if Draco hadn't interrupted Olivia's shower. She had to wash a second time, but it was worth it. Narcissa entered the parlor and Olivia tried to hide her smile.

"Hello," Narcissa greeted as she hugged Draco and Olivia. She had spent her time out of St. Mungo's revamping the Manor. It hadn't gone completely bad being left alone for seven years, but it wasn't a respectable place when she had come back to it. She had ordered in men to redo many of the rooms and had house elves scrub everything.

"Hi Narcissa, it looks amazing in here," Olivia complimented the recently peach-painted parlor.

"Thank you dear. If you want to head back to the dining room, we'll meet you in there in a moment," Narcissa told her and Olivia nodded and headed towards the dining room.

"Here, I wanted to give you this," she whispered to Draco, handing him a small box. He took it from her and opened it. Inside, there was a ring that had a large emerald with the Malfoy crest emblazoned in it.

"Thank you Mother," he told her, as he pocketed the box. This was what was going to make his proposal perfect. If his father had still been alive, then he would have never gotten this ring for Olivia. They may have been different Malfoys after the war, but his father would still never have allowed him to marry her as much as he would not have let Draco marry Ginny Weasley or Hermione Granger.

He linked arms with his mother and they walked together to join Olivia in the dining room. Olivia was already having a conversation with Klipper, one of the Manor's many house elves.

"Everything okay?" She asked upon seeing them.

"Of course, I just needed a moment with him. It has been seven years," Narcissa offered as explanation. Olivia blushed, embarrassed that she had inquired on such a private moment for them.

They ate dinner with Narcissa asking questions about the last seven years. She asked about everything from robes, newest broom models, Draco's job, and Olivia's life. It was pleasant and normal.

Olivia sat with Draco and Narcissa in a sitting room for an hour or so after dinner enjoying tea and dessert.

"Well it is getting late dears. I think I will retire for the evening. You should take Olivia for a tour of the garden before you leave. It really is lovely this time of year, and the enchanted lights make it a sight," Narcissa said to Draco with an encouraging smile. He nodded and gave his mother a small kiss on the cheek. Olivia stood and did the same.

"Draco, you don't really have to show me the garden," she told him once Narcissa had left the room.

"Yes I do. I really would love for you to see it," he answered as he took her hand. He walked her out French patio doors into an expansive mass of grounds. About thirty feet to their right the gardens began. Olivia could see the beautiful white peacocks that inhabited it. Even though she had told him it wasn't necessary to see it, she couldn't help but pick up her pace and head to it even quicker. Once they stood outside the archway of plants, Draco muttered something and two beautiful wrought iron gates opened in front of them. Draco gestured for Olivia to step in first. She gasped as she took in the sight of small silver lights fluttering about the gardens above the peacocks strutting on the ground. They walked further in and Draco led Olivia to a small stone bench.

Olivia had taken one look at the bench, and began to slowly put everything together. She held her breath. She didn't want her hopes to get too high if she really was jumping to conclusions. She shakily took a seat with him.

"Are you alright?" Draco asked concerned.

"Fine."

"Sure?"

"Yes, of course," she answered as he stared at her with intense gray eyes. She watched as he put his hand into his dress robes as if he were looking for something. Olivia could feel her heartbeat quicken.

And then Draco did the very thing that Olivia had felt was coming. He pulled out a small box and opened it for her, "Olivia, would you do me the honor of marrying me?"

Olivia just stared at the ring inside the box. It was an emerald the size of a ladybug emblazoned with the Malfoy family crest, surrounded by smaller brilliant diamonds, and placed on a beautiful white gold band.

"Well by the way you're staring at it, I think you want it, but you can't unless you say yes," he said to her after a few moments of silence.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Yes, I will marry you Draco Malfoy," she answered and he removed the ring from its box and gently slid it onto her finger. There was the sound of sniffling and clapping in the distance. Both of them looked up to see Narcissa on the balcony that connected to the master bedroom. They both laughed a little and waved up to her.


	14. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

Olivia dodged as children came running past her as she went to the table set up with the birthday cake. She was trying to run a party, but tell that to Sofia who was running around as her Animagus wolf chasing the kids. She had to side-step again as Blaise rounded the kids back her way as his Animagus, a black bear. She loved her best friends, but since they didn't have kids of their own, they tended to act like big kids and play with everyone else's.

"Hey there beautiful," Draco said as he tried to help her finish up the cake table. Not that these children needed anymore sugar, but it would get them to sit down for about twenty minutes.

"Hi," she answered as he spun her around for a quick kiss.

"Ew, Daddy, she's a girl!" Xanthus, their youngest, said from Draco's left arm.

"Yes, but in about eleven years, you'll understand," Draco answered as he kissed his wife one more time while his youngest son protested. He really wasn't in the mood to explain girls to his three-year-old.

Olivia smiled at him, and then proceeded to put the Sonorus charm on her voice to be heard over everyone, "IT'S TIME TO DO CAKE NOW."

Every kid stopped, and ran immediately to the table. Olivia surveyed them. She watched as Hermione and Ron's kids stood to the back, being the oldest and most responsible. Her middle children sauntered up to the table like their father would have, like they owned everything.

"Will you two get up here quicker? If you don't then I'm going to sing happy birthday to some other five-year-olds and give them the first pieces of cake," Olivia threatened. Two children with red hair that matched Olivia's came running up in front of her.

"Okay, let's all sing happy birthday to Hector and Helena, and then we can have some cake," she instructed. She started them in a very quick verse of 'Happy Birthday,' and then started to hand out pieces of cake to the various children. "Hermione, should I be giving any to Grant?"

"Hold on, let me get there to help him first," Hermione said as she approached Olivia to accept Grant's cake. "He hasn't mastered eating cleanly like his brother and sisters. I am starting to believe he is the most Ron-like out of the four of them," she explained as she held Grant's hand and walked back to a table that Ron and her other three, Rose, Hugo, and Daisy, were sitting.

"Mum, how come it's not my birthday?" Olivia heard Lily Potter ask Ginny, and gave a small chuckle. She watched as Ginny's two sons, James and Albus, joined her daughter in wondering why it wasn't their birthday.

It was then, that Olivia wondered where her oldest was. She hadn't seen Calliope in half an hour. She searched for her, and let out a sigh of relief when she found her with her godmother and cousins.

"There you are," Olivia said to her as she relaxed.

"Were you looking for me Mum? I was with Aunt Pansy and Jackson and Violet," her seven-year-old responded.

"Well don't bother Aunt Pansy too much."

"Oh she's not bothering me. I could always use help with these two," Pansy said gesturing to her four-year-old son, and her one-year-old daughter. Olivia nodded. If Calliope wasn't being a pain then she'd leave her with Pansy. No reason to send the strawberry blonde into fits if she didn't have to do it. Instead, she wandered over to her husband. He was stilling holding Xanthus in his lap and was trying to share cake with him. She laughed as she saw that there was blue icing in her son's pale blonde hair.

"I don't know how you do this without them getting food everywhere. I've been trying for seven years to get it right and haven't managed it," he said to her as she sat down next to him.

"You're supposed to be messy. You're Dad," answered Olivia with a smirk. She took Draco's hand and both of them watched their family and friends together.


End file.
